“I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” – John Keith Falconer
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Thought For the Day: I Have But One Candle of Life To Burn, and I Would Rather Burn It Out In A Land Filled With Darkness Than In A Land Flooded With Light
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Aaron Copland, Alight, Burn, Candle, Darkness, Faith-Filled, Flooded, John Keith Falconer, Life, One, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: Therefore Go and Make Disciples of All Nations, Baptizing Them In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and Teaching Them To Obey Everything I Have Commanded You
“16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” – Matthew 28:16-20
Posted in First Principles
Tagged All Nations, Baptize, Commanded, Disciples, Everything, Father, First Principles, Go, Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:16-20, Name, Obey, Son, Teach
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Echo of Love
Echo of Love
by Michael Doyle
In love, there's no honorable mention
Nor is it really a process of elimination
It comes down to a concrete decision
At least if you have the right intention
If your head is really spinning
It might be that you're finally winning
The only thing that truly matters
And without which, your heart shatters
There's really nothing to fear
Once your heart and mind are clear
It fits like your hand in a glove
When you can say that you're truly in love
London Bridge has nothing on walls falling down
A king and a queen share one another's crowns
When the right one comes around
You know what it is that you've finally found
There's only one who is your to the moon and back
Without a doubt, there's nothing that they lack
And now here it is, and I fully recognize
The echo of love shining in your sweet eyes
The world spins with all its weight
Coming too soon, but feeling too late
There's only you in my evermore
I'll love you forever for rich or for poor
Satisfied to know what it means
That, for me, you are my one true being
Who has brought me to this bliss
With the secret told by your kiss
(c) April 27, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Bliss, Brought, Clear, Comes Around, Concrete Decision, Crown, Echo, Evermore, Eyes, Falling Down, Feel, For Rich Or For Poor, Forever, Found, Hand In A Glove, Head, Heart and Mind, Heart Shatters, Honorable Mention, In Love, Kiing, Kiss, Know, Lack, Late, London Bridge, Love, Mean, Nothing, Nothing To Fear, One True Being, Only One, Poetry and Poems, Process of Elimination, Queen, Recognize, Right Intention, Right One, Satisifed, Secret, Shine, Soon, Spinning, To the Moon and Back, Told, Truly In Love, Truly Matters, Walls, Weight, Winning, Without, Without A Doubt, World Spin
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First Principles: If A Republican Government Fails To Secure Public Prosperity and Happiness, It Must Be Because the Citizens Neglect the Divine Commands, and Elect Bad Men To Make and Administer the Laws
“If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted… If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.” – Noah Webster
Thought For the Day: Earth Provides Enough To Satisfy Every Man’s Needs, But Not Every Man’s Greed
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed” – Mahatma Gandhi
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Earth, Enough, Greed, Mahatma Gandhi, Need, Provide, Satisfy, Thought For the Day
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Facedown With Mediocrity
Facedown With Mediocrity
by Michael Doyle
In every town and in every city
We find challenges met with mediocrity
These are the moments of losses taken
And near certainty of a world wanting and mistaken
For some, this is hard to be faced head on
While others still hang on to victories already gone
Most of the time, losses are never taken easy
These are never simple nor seen as light and breezy
In this, youthful rebellion will find its voice
It is spoken loudly if it truly given the choice
In this world, where it's hard to be impressed
Acting like a hellion is seldom suppressed
Some things are enough to hurt one's conscience
Like when we've been told to follow bad science
In defiance, we salute with one finger as we resist
Only to find stuffed ballot boxes can make us desist
It's all in the losses that we are forced to take
Faced bravely or not, it causes true hearts to break
While at these times, we could use a little compassion
We too often look around to find it's out of fashion
Sometimes, we find life is merely a walking shadow
With sunlight so covered that it's hard to know
What it is that we cannot quite see
This brings us back to the study of mediocrity
To be actors in life takes active diffidence
And the taking on of the world with confidence
That just maybe unanswered questions are alright
As long as these are dragged into the light
This is the path through all of life's seasons
To not be too tied up by the so-called reasons
But instead to simply live as we must
As if there are really enough reasons to trust
Whatever role it is we decide that we must play
We must not allow mediocrity to get in the way
Instead, push the boundaries, whatever people say
In so doing, excellence can forge a new day
(c) April 26, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Act, Actors, Alright, Bad Science, Break, Challenges, Chice, City, Compassion, Confidence, Conscience, Defiance, Desist, Diffidence, Dragged Into the Light, Easy, Excellence, Facedown, Force, Forge, Get In the Way, Gone, Hard, Hard to Know, Head-On, Hellion, Impressed, Life, Loss, Loud, Mediocrity, Mistaken, Must, New Day, Out of Fashion, Path, Play, Poetry and Poems, Push the Boundaries, Reasons, Resist, Role, Salute, Say, Seasons, See, Simple, Study, Stuffed Ballot Boxes, Sunglight, Suppressed, Tied UP, Tow, True Hearts, Trust, Unanswered Questions, Victories, Voice, Walking Shaodow, World, Youthful Rebellion
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First Principles: The General Government Is Not To Be Charged With the Whole Power of Making and Administering Laws: Its Jurisdiction Is Limited To Certain Enumerated Objects
“The general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws: its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the republic, but which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any.” – James Madison (1787)
Thought For the Day: A New Word Is Like A Fresh Seed Sown On the Ground of the Discussion
“A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion.” -Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (26 Apr 1889-1951)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Discussion, Fresh Seed, Ground, Ludwig Wittgenstein, New Word, Sown, Thought For the Day
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Tandy 100
Tandy 100
by Michael Doyle
I watched a show the other day
That reminded me of life lived another way
I smiled on this journey bringing me back
To the late 80s, and Radio Shack
The Tandy 1000 was the trend of the hour
It had an allure that seemed to quietly devour
The attention of many a teenage boy
Boys who knew just enough to know it wasn't a toy
These computers seemed startling in their capability
With the biggest catch being their affordability
Living paycheck to paycheck made it hard to reconcile
But then, how do you calculate the worth of a smile?
We would mow lawns when we had the will and the time
Doing whatever we could to raise enough dollars and dimes
We were determined to help the salesmen move these off the floor
It seemed it was t to discover what we'd use them for
When young girls were busy learning and dreaming about love
What were the young Einsteins busy dreaming of?
They were drifting in and out of the streets of Slumberland
While hoping for a computer they hoped to one day understand
These computers seemed startling in their capability
With the biggest catch being their affordability
Living paycheck to paycheck made it hard to reconcile
But then, how do you calculate the worth of a smile?
I remember those days with great sentiment
As dollars were shifted after much argument
All in the name of computer utility
Until a family would buy one through forced ability
As helpful as it was, for a budget a computer was an intrusion
Which in this modern world feels like free-form confusion
It's hard to say why this technological bright light
Caused so many to fall apart and bicker in fright
These computers seemed startling in their capability
With the biggest catch being their affordability
Living paycheck to paycheck made it hard to reconcile
But then, how do you calculate the worth of a smile?
We never knew how much we'd love inanimate objects
While we grew to allow people to feel like rejects
Crass consumerism grew a larger, wrong way of life
And harmonious relationships gave way to open strife
Time went on and computers grew to become an obsession
Families began to quibble about the value of possessions
Had we paid attention, we'd have known the future
We asked all the wrong questions and forgot to nurture
These computers seemed startling in their capability
With the biggest catch being their affordability
Living paycheck to paycheck made it hard to reconcile
But then, how do you calculate the worth of a smile?
Perhaps in times when we need prove more wise
We should begin in earnest and remember to apologize
There's really nothing we can't beat hand-in-hand
If we start by first seeking to understand
It seems we didn't need computers for society to start
Having been better off leading with our stolid hearts
Again, today, we're confused by the path of technology
Maybe we should learn to rely again on you and me
(c) April 25, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Affordabiity, Allure, Apologize, Argument, Attention, Back, Bicker, Biggest Catch, Bright Light, Budget, budgeting, Calculate, Capability, Computers, Confusion, Consumerism, Day, Devour, Dimes, Discover, Dollars, Drift, Earnest, Fall Apart, Family, Finance, First, Floor, Forced Ability, Fright, Future, Hand-In-Hand, Harmonious Relationships, Hearts, Helpful, Hope, Hour, Inanimate Objects, Intrusion, Journey, Just Enough, Know, Late 80s, Lawn, Life, Living Paycheck to Paycheck, Love, Modern World, Money, Nurture, Obsession, Path of Technology, People, personal-finance, Poetry and Poems, Possession, Radio Shack, Reconcile, Rejects, Rely, Remind, Salesmen, Saving, Sentiment, Show, Slumber Land, Smile, Society, Start, Startling, Street, Strife, Tandy 1000, Technological, Teenaged Boy, Time, Toy, Trend, Understand, Utility, Value, Watch, Way, Will, Wise, Worth, Wrong Questions, You and Me, Young Einsteins, Young Girls
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First Principles: It Is the First Responsibility of Every Citizen To Question Authority
“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” – Benjamin Franklin
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Authority, Benjamin Franklin, Citizen, Every, First, First Principles, Question, Responsibility
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