“O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse Without all hope of day!” – John Milton
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Thought For the Day: O Dark, Dark, Dark, Amid the Blaze of Moon, Irrecoverably Dark, Total Eclipse Without All Hope of Day!
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Blaze, Dark, Day, Hope, Irrecoverably, John Milton, Moon, Thought For the Day, Total Eclipse, Without
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I Surrender
I Surrender
by Michael Doyle
Faith comes from hearing
And learning to love
It's not from fearing
But following heaven above
Holding the doors open wide
We know God always stands beside
His followers, as we lift our hands in praise
This is the faith flowing from our days
It's there in everywhere that we go
We're always sure to let our love flow
He is the one we will always extol
From the top and the bottom of our souls
It seems that it is understood
The Lord Jesus has brought us our good
Even in the darkest night
His will be our best guiding-light
With every breath left to the likes of me
His love will always remain my theology
For His is the love that is sweet and tender
And so my very life, I willingly surrender
It is for me to sacrifice to God's purposes
Being used as I might be in His services
This I promise to live out in all my days
While lifting my hands in song, love, and praise
(c) April 7, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged All My Days, Breath, Darkest Night, Days, Door, Everywhere, Extol, Faith, Fear, Flow, Follow, Follower, Go, God, God's Purposes, Good, Guiding Light, Hands, Hear, Heaven, His Services, I Surrender, Know, Learn, Lift, Lifting My Hands, Live, Lord Jesus, Love, My Very Life, Open, Poetry and Poems, Praise, Promise, Sacrifice, Song, Soul, Stands Beside, Surrender, Sweet and Tender, Theology, Understood
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First Principles: For the Spirit God Gave Us Does Not Make Us Timid, But Gives Us Power, Love and Self-Discipline. So Do Not Be Ashamed of the Testimony
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” – 2 Timothy 1:7-8 (NIV)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged 2 Timothy 1:7-8 (NIV), Ashame, First Principles, God, Gospel, Join, Love, Our Lord, Power, Power of God, Self-Discipline, Spirit, Suffer, Testimony, Timid
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Thought For the Day: Every Man Is A Volume If You Know How To Read Him
“Every man is a volume if you know how to read him.” -William Ellery Channing, clergyman and writer (7 Apr 1780-1842)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Every Man, Him, Know, Read, Thought For the Day, Volume, William Ellery Channing
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A Rebellion Begins In Questions
A Rebellion Begins In Questions
by Michael Doyle
Some seek truth with hesitation
While others cannot form the questions
Often, answers arrive with simplicity
Untangled as these are from the world's complexity
Faith belongs aside it's sister, reason
Complementing each within its season
Each tempers the other as humanity savors
Both are blended in life as their best flavor
The universe formed on day one, page one
The grand design of existence is defined as it is done
For and by God's good purposes and is meant to work out
Even as it does so, and yet leaves room for doubts
The idyllic Garden of Eden required its cultivation
And in this cultivation began humanity's education
The elements that makeup humanity's ragged souls
These began protected but ended with escape from control
This rebellion began with a serpent's beckoning question
It was in part spiritual and given and taken without hesitation
Who are we to shape the boundaries of the earth and of sky
It's the focus of reality yet no one really knows why
These first questions, asked back and forth, invited conversation
Without a hint of the coming journeys or the destination
Those places where humanity will travel and finally grow
Such relationships define the path by which we will finally know
(c) April 6, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Answer, Beckoning Question, Begin, Blend, Boundaries, Complement, Complexity, Control, Conversation, Cultivation, Day One, Define, Destination, Doubt, Earth, Education, Elements, Existence, Faith, First Questions, Flavor, Focus, Form, Garden of Eden, God's Good Purposes, Grand Design, Grow, Hesitation, Hint, Humanity, Journey, Know, Page One, Poetry and Poems, Protect, Question, Questions, Ragged Souls, Reality, Reason, Rebellion, Relationship, Room, Savor, Season, Seek, Serpent, Shape, Simplicity, Sky, Spiritual, Temper, Travel, Truth, Universe, Untangled, Why
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Thought For the Day: Still Round the Corner There May Wait, A New Road Or A Secret Gate
“Still round the corner there may wait, / a new road or a secret gate.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, novelist and philologist (3 Jan 1892-1973)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Corner, J.R.R. Tolkien, New Road, Round, Secret Gate, Still, Thought For the Day, Wait
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First Principles: It Is A Principle Incorporated Into the Settled Policy of America, That As Peace Is Better Than War, War Is Better Than Tribute
“It is a principle incorporated into the settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute.” – James Madison (1816)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged America, Better, First Principles, Incorporated, James Madison, Peace, Principle, Settled Policy, Tribute, War
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Growing Vulnerability
Growing Vulnerability
by Michael Doyle
Some fools say that men don't cry
But let me tell you, that's just a lie
It's so hard to express inner truth
And it's played that way since youth
We need to get the curtains down and out
Moving hard beyond that shadow of doubt
It's about moving out of our own way
It's to find our kind of better way
Are we ready to process our communication
Straight up, my love for you is beyond fascination
I'm not just grooving with that glittered hype
My armor's down; I've become the sensitive type
Though sometimes I try to wear the macho hard
I've played it up like it's some sort of trump card
But this time, my heart has found it's way out
Peeking around, as it were, that dusty cloud of doubt
I'm not looking to ever find an excuse to take a walk
More on the level, I want to stay and need to talk
Girl, I'm so very happy that you are standing here
I will always need the essence of you to be near
Shining up to be there forever for each other
I don't ever want to find a reason to find another
I want us to get to that place of our shine on
And for our love to stay and for it never to be gone
It's so hard to show you my growing vulnerability
But with you, I want to grow in having that capability
Pardon me please, girl; it seems that my eyes are leaking
It's only my heart, and it's true love that is speaking
(c) April 5, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Another, Armor, Better Way, Capability, Cloud, Communication, Cry, Curtains, Doubt, Down and Out, Dust, Essence of You, Excuse, Express, Eyes, Fascination, Fools, Forever, Gone, Grow, Growing, Happy, Hard, Heart, Here, Hype, Inner Truth, Leak, Lie, Look, Love, Lvel, Macho, Men, Move, Moving Hard, Near, Own Way, Pardon, Peek, Place, Play, Poetry and Poems, Process, Reason, Say, Sensitive Type, Shadow of Doubt, Shine, Shine On, Speaking, Stay, Straight Up, Talk, Tell, True Love, Trump Card, Vulernable, Vulnerability, Walk, Way Out, Youth
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First Principles: The Hand of Providence Has Been So Conspicuous In All This, That He Must Be Worse Than An Infidel That Lacks Faith
“The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.” – George Washington (1778)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Acknowledge, Conspicuous, First Principles, George Washington, Gratitidue, Hand, Iinfidel, Lack Faith, Obligations, Providence, Wicked, Worse
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Thought For the Day: There Are Two Ways of Exerting One’s Strength: One Is Pushing Down, the Other Is Pulling up
“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” – Booker T. Washington, reformer, educator, and author (5 Apr 1856-1915)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Booker T. Washington, Exert, Pull Up, Push Down, Strength, Thought For the Day, Two Ways
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