On most days, I set God-sized goals Doing my best to grow my stubborn soul Living large to fill envisioned shoes All my prayers have surely paid their dues
I know my sins nailed Jesus to the cross Who knew it would bring victory and not loss? Leafing through the Bible changed my point of view Now, I live and try to be godly in all I do
In the spirit, I have lived and learned Finding much to understand and discern This is my vision like the burning of a fire It has inspired me in all I now aspire
Shattered dreams and broken places And still our Lord, my soul embraces As a son of thunder, I do my very best Certain of my footing, I'll pass the test
Transfiguration showed what could be done When you have the faith to follow the Son I won't turn my back, but will always remain To love forever, despite my soul's stain
We each have our journey, and I have mine The heartbeat of Jesus signals the divine Listen closely, and we'll find eternity The heart of God means everything to me
He made me His surfer to ride the waves That is the service that I'll give until my grave With every breath, I endure to defeat death And I stand just as firm with every moment left
Aligning my soul with Jesus, I'll live life right To take on the Devil in every moment of the good fight I hold to faith as my greatest guiding light Pushing on through the dark of the darkest night
If there is some price yet still to pay I'll gladly pay it to help in showing the way I'll give my wall to answer your call And to raise up God to help restore man's fall
The screaming heard in all those broken places For the love of God as my life embraces I walk by the spirit, each step that I take This has its purpose, and isn't by mistake
As God pulls me back by the strings of my heart Evan as Patmos is the place I find I must start Most see the horror in God's coming desolation But in the darkest hours, I serve at my station
Pushed by the screaming whisper echoing in my ear Urging myself and all others to somehow persevere Wherever we are, by God and fate, truly meant to be Knowing and living up to this truth will set us free
One day, I'll see the streets paved with gold As sure as my faith is solid, it is foretold Living each moment close beside God and then I know my salvation comes from knowing my sins
I close my eyes and find my rest As faithfully, I've lived my best My brokenness given to God's salvation With no doubt on my final destination
No pain or struggle is too much to take I bare this patiently for heaven's sake Worked forward forever for God's holy good This is the life I've lived and understood
All my steps have taken me to this place And my blessed forgiveness, I'll embrace I am still a mess, yet I am forgiven This is the repentance that all Christians are living
This lost surfer quietly joined the family To become one with the Christian community I am but a work in progress and yet find my rest In this confession, I'll pass the test
(c) April 21, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence — true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.” – George Washington
There is something unsaid gone unheeded In all the messages truly needed Messages to and from so many strangers Who are embroiled in all their anger
What happened to peace, love, and understanding I know I'm no longer hip, and not to be demanding But I've seldom heard of things getting better When two or more sides forget we're in this together
When we can say nothing or speak when we can In the secret alphabet from the tongue of a shaman There he was on center stage lost in being all the rage Until he slipped into unconsciousness and turned the page
The summer of love passed us by in the heat of fire As we got lost in the fight and forgot what inspired Us to seek and work toward something more than vanity Whatever happened to the quest for a new humanity?
In a world of the ugly, we could use more beauty I am talking about you and me living out our duty Casting aside the disillusions of this lost generation And holding something better to the light of veneration
Tired of singing about love and peace and want to live it A look in this mirror tells me then that I have to give it It's time to cross my heart and start to truly live Looking around at everything that the world can truly give
The thing about living in the past is it's loaded with the dead I can't shake the memory of mistakes by living in my head It just keeps me shuffling heels to the brokenness around When what I need is to live with my feet flat on the ground
(c) April 20, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
This age of prevailing ill-liberalism Breeds little but despair and pessimism There's a breakdown in our society That has brought us into a time of anxiety
Once beautiful cities have turned into blight It seems we are falling into our darkest night Our pharmaceutically paid for addictions Only serve to feed our electronic distractions
While the future is saddled with yesterday's debt Poor economic decisions have bled and wept This nation is divided by oligarchy and mob rule Ponzi schemes of student loans riddle our schools
Whatever happened to the common good? What is it that we've misunderstood? True progress no longer seems the priority As we slip and edge toward civil war or tyranny
We've lost our way from progressive empathy It's not led to the birth of a new humanity The elite see the people as a threat to democracy Preferring instead their own sense of eco-theology
At every turn, the liberal attempt at a solution Has added up to naught but contemptible pollution All of which has added to worsen the divide And resulted in the people seeking to decide
What it is that will be then be next As the historical inevitability moves and connects In a plumbing project of recovery and recreation It will overturn the relied-on constitution
Changes seem destined for history's dustbin As our leaders fail again and yet again And ordinary people seek order and stability We desperately hope for our nation's continuity
(c) April 19, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine. Far from being rivals or enemies religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistance. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other.‘ – James Wilson, in The Works of the Honourable James Wilson (Philadelphia: Bronson and Chauncey, 1804), Vol. I, pp. 106 & 103-105.
“The hardest single part of building a software system is deciding precisely what to build the most important function that software builders do for their clients is the iterative extraction and refinement of the product requirements. For the truth is, the clients do not know what they want. They usually do not know what questions must be answered, and they have almost never thought of the problem in the detail that must be specified.” – Fred Brooks
It is once, maybe twice Your head starts reeling It's easy to pay the price Getting lost in these electric feelings
You know you've found the right one And that the search is finally done It's not like you'll evade the snares But you cannot be anything but fair
Everyone has their pick They might reach it quick Or they might reach it slow But in the end, we all know
The words come like a chokehold Of that something special told It's a feeling you must keep going on And your pulse rate is beating strong
All the emotions fall into right place Somewhere between my leather and your lace It's that vital point where we start to melt Giving in to the feelings that are already felt
It's that semi-cryptic point of empathy Knowing that not everyone will necessarily be happy But it's not about living for the sympathy It's more the need to know that you really feel me
Here in this modernistic age Life is a flash that turns its page It moves at an artificially fast pace And all we can hope for is our best end of race
Listening to each other's hearts talking Watching ourselves as if feelings walking Doing the best that we are capable To make peace at feeling a bit inter-changeable
At least, that is, to a certain degree Refusing the chains but loving for free Until we are unable to get enough of one another Are we ready, babe, to truly love each other?
(c) April 18, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
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
