“The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.” – James Madison (1788)
“Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.” – Walt Whitman, poet (31 May 1819-1892)
In days like these, we see The need to depend on divinity It's best that we all recall That even heroes can topple and fall
Now, though the battle feels longer Our brave hearts beat ever stronger Following Jesus as our true king Through Him, there is victory in everything
We stand tall, taking on the adversary While keeping hope for the extraordinary We stand tall, lifting our eyes higher We look on at the burning fires
Fires stoked by those who practice deceit While good people struggle against defeat There are those who shift blame in insurrection And we Christians hold firm to the resurrection
We know our ranks will grow even if Satan reigns Our lives will show that our efforts aren't in vain Jesus in God, God in Jesus, is the voice of victory We know Jesus will reign for all eternity
As some tremble in these dark moments of doubt Our brave hearts will fight on and keep stout Standing firm here for the rule of law That others have forgotten to keep to and recall
In all of Jesus' names, we will call Knowing however things look, we will not fall The truth of Jesus is what makes Him our king In this, we know His holiest name is everything
Here, we take our stand, for all the generations All God's children struggle on in veneration His holy power will always hold final dominion Above all, the mockers who hold false positions
(c) May 30, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Speculation is perfectly all right, but if you stay there you’ve only founded a superstition. If you test it, you’ve started a science.” – Hal Clement, science fiction author (30 May 1922-2003)
“For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” – James Garfield, at the Arlington National Cemetery
Deceptive Truth From the Sanctuary by Michael Doyle
Most see the warrior life as fighting and drinking But the truth of the odyssey is one of thinking Ulysses was protean and was not easily swayed Instead, his thinking was fluid and many-wayed This is the way the world is and how his cards were played
Sailing a ship through life requires skillful navigation This much, of course, needs no long-winded explanation To remain vital requires perceiving life in its multiplicity This moves beyond bedeviling simplicity into complexity These are things that lead to a life of perplexity
This world shatters expectations and demands we steer We must approach life by design and defeat our limiting fears In a word, the story comes to that to live is to think And to recognize that we are always on the brink Of new discoveries, and through these finding vital links
Life isn't just about choosing to rule or to submit and obey It's a far more complex sort of game in which we all play Knowing who is who is essential in this world of mobility To find out often consists of questions holding great difficulty This is all part of the mystery that makes for life's journey
Everyone here is seen as a stranger in the game of identity A cataract rush of questions flows and causes some anxiety As fortunes begin with thoughts from our playground minds Pushing forward in this cycle, concerned of being left behind The dear Lady Justice is always found in her curious bind
As we gain our feet in life, we find a wall of uncertainty The only certainty and real rule in this life that has urgency We were all coldly thrown into this bracing morass of life Struggling, tired, and desperate for peace, only to find strife And such peace as we find, is spread thinly with a dull knife
The only control we find is found in making our own decisions Some will be good; some perhaps bad, all without precision Allowing this truth is our best and only true path of control Knowing we can never really know anything frees our souls Somehow, this acceptance brings the only peace that consoles
In pursuing thought, we see how life can radically deceive Ultimately, it comes down to our cores and what we can believe Those things that we draw from that are or have been concealed Shape into the truths by which our choices are revealed But we're no longer troubled, and from this trouble, we are healed
This is how we grow from our childishness into our dignity This storming world of the sea holds its own integrity Until at last a man acts in ways he perhaps cannot condone Finding as we do, this understanding leaves us truly alone And this loneliness, is the only thing, we truly ever own
(c) May 29, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” – Joseph Story (1833)
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along