“The heart, like the mind, has a memory. And in it are kept the most precious keepsakes.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
If you appreciate my work, please buy me a coffee
$3.00
Thought For the Day: The Heart, Like the Mind, Has A Memory. And In It Are Kept the Most Precious Keepsakes
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Heart, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Keepsake, Kept, Memory, Miin, Precioius, Thought For the Day
Leave a comment
First Principles: I Am One But Still I Am One. I Cannot Do Everything, But Still I Can Do Something
“I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.” – Edward Everett
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Edward Everett, Everything, First Principles, I, Only One, Something
Leave a comment
This That I Know
This That I Know
by Michael Doyle
Unbroken promises add up to good,
I know, and it's understood.
His faithfulness walks me through
In everything that I say and do.
It's the known that I know,
That my God will never let me go.
I stand on His word, and I've read,
Trusting in where it has always led.
The truth shines through sublime,
And rescues me, time after time.
I will submit before His crown.
I know that He'll never let me down.
His blessings are in my heart,
And have been from the start.
There's a feeling that I belong
In every note that is His song.
There's been times I've been afraid
In the middle of the troubles I've seen.
I find courage in Jesus' name,
Knowing that He has carried my shames.
My heart burns like a holy fire
With God's Heaven as my only desire.
His love shines through every casted shadow,
And I rely on this that I know.
(c) January 14, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Blessings, Crown, Faithfulness, His Word, Know, Poetry and Poems, Read, Rescue, Sublime, Trust, Truth Shines, Unbroken Promises, Understood
Leave a comment
First Principles: No People Can Be Bound To Acknowledge and Adore the Invisible Hand Which Conducts the Affairs of Men More Than the People of the United States
“(I)t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.” – George Washington, First Inaugural Address (April 30, 1789)
Thought For the Day: One of the Secrets of Life Is That All That Is Really Worth the Doing Is What We Do For Others
“One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.” – Lewis Carroll
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Doing, Lewis Carroll, Life, Others, Secret, Thought For the Day, Worth
Leave a comment
Conversation
Conversation
by Michael Doyle
If you understand what it is that I mean,
We're watching two shows on the same screen.
There are few safe discussions in this nation.
We have lost our part in decent conversation.
Stupid is as stupid does, and becoming plain.
That our ancestors would think us a bit insane.
A conversation requires listening to what's said,
Whatever the cause or whoever may be dead.
We prejudge to the point that it isn't allowed to be shown,
That there might be a thing or two that remains unknown.
I don't know what has happened to weighing evidence,
But I, for one, believe this still has the most relevance.
Instead of pointing fingers of twisted plastic blame,
It might be better to take a moment to casually reframe.
Life isn't supposed to be about blasting the ego.
But it is sometimes about thoughtfully letting go.
Things said can be stacked to find their way to the heart
If we only look at each other with love from the start.
Everyone thinks strength is found in being demanding.
I honestly feel it's more about finding understanding.
It's hard to hold a legitimate conversation, always talking.
If you feel that you must fight, maybe first try walking.
And while you're walking, move past the pain and fear,
You might be surprised if you're really willing to hear.
Would it be so funny if we really gave peace a chance?
Maybe there's something to this non-circular dance.
It's simply done by using two ears in proportion to one mouth.
If I'm correct, that halves the odds of things going south.
On the edge of sanity, life isn't about keeping score.
It's about increasing our love and life forevermore.
The weight of the world is measured by learning to forgive.
Less pain, more dancing in the rain, this is how to live.
It isn't in the me and mine that brings us to our.
It's in sharing our dreams that we will reach far.
The power of deep conversation rests on sympathy,
Listening more is the tool that builds our empathy.
I will seek to teach my daughters until my last breath.
And I will teach them to die well with my death.
There will be a smile on this old man's aged face
If I have taught them love and how to live in grace.
(c) January 13, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Ancestors, Blasting the Ego, Cause, Conversation, Dead, Decent Conversation, Family, Insane, Letting Go, Life, Listen, Love, Mean, mental-health, Nation, Our Part, Plain, Poetry and Poems, Pointing Fingers, Prejudgment, Reframe, Relevance, Safe Discussons, Said, Same Screen, Shown, Stupiid, Thoughtuflness, Twisted Plastic Blame, Two Shows, Understand, Unknown, Weighing Evidence, Writing
Leave a comment
First Principles: If Ever A Time Should Come, When Vain and Aspiring Men Shall Possess the Highest Seats In Government, Our Country Will Stand In Need of Its Experienced Patriots To Prevent Its Ruin
“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” – Samuel Adams
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Country, Experienced Patriots, First Prrincples, Government, Highest Seats, Need, Prevention, Ruin, Samuel Adams, Time, Vain and Aspiring Men
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: Worship Is Not A Repetitious Exercise of Rituals and Formulas. These Create A Veil That Actually Prevents Us From Enjoying the Presence of the Lord
“Worship is not a repetitious exercise of rituals and formulas. These create a veil that actually prevents us from enjoying the presence of the Lord. Worship is the heart poured out in gratitude and awe, expressing our appreciation of who He is and what He has done for us by His grace through Jesus Christ.” – Dave Hunt
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Appreiciation, Awe, Dave Hunt, Grace, Gratitue, Heart, Jesus Christ, Presense, Prevention, Repetitious Exercise, Rituals an Formulas, The Lord, Thought For the Day, Veil, Worship, Worshp
Leave a comment
For the Love of Myth
For the Love of Myth
by Michael Doyle
Walking out past our prints in the Indiana snow,
My youngest confesses that it's hard to let it go.
Greek myths have an existential edge, so inevitable
Creative minds find themselves immensely incapable
Of letting go, the stories touch her young soul
As they come down to the interplay of control.
Her playful glare snipes at me when I say it's mythology.
She prefers to see it as a vibrant cosmology.
She finds herself conflicted with riveted attention
Struggling with fate and control's twisted tension.
As the gods play games with human vulnerability,
Her belief in free will clashes with that ability.
Too many frozen words are not a good sign.
Her brow wrinkles as I dismiss the divine.
I tell her the gods were always up to inequity,
The reply is that's how it was in antiquity.
It's fascinating to watch her mind openly engage
With thoughts that alternate between feeling rage
And the way these ancient tales eloquently unravel
Yet, they remain through the centuries - well-traveled.
Self-indulgent caprice makes for such a tangled mess.
That's my perception, I tell her as I readily confess.
The stories of heroes played for fools in adventure
Is as close as my heart and soul could ever indenture
To work passionately on tales that lacked any real truth,
I had discovered this early on while a wild-eyed youth.
Certain that my will would have pained the gods more,
She laughs, and I know that another day we have more to explore.
(c) January 12, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Ancient Tales, Antiquity, Attention, Caprice, Century, Conflicted, Control, Cosmology, Creative Mind, Daughter, Dismiss, Divine, Elegance, Existential Edge, Fate, Free Will, Frozen Words, Good Sign, Greek Myth, Human Vulnerabiltiy, Indiana, Inevitable, Inquity, Love, Mind, Mtyhtology, Myth, Oontrol, Perception, Poetry and Poems, Prints, Rage, Snow, Soul, Stories, Tangled Mess, Tension, The Gods, Touch, Unravel, Walk, Well-Traveled
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: The Champions of Socialism Call Themselves Progressives, But They Recommend… Resistance To Every Kind of Improvement
“The champions of socialism call themselves progressives, but they recommend a system which is characterized by rigid observance of routine and by a resistance to every kind of improvement. They call themselves liberals, but they are intent upon abolishing liberty. They call themselves democrats, but they yearn for dictatorship. They call themselves revolutionaries, but they want to make the government omnipotent. They promise the blessings of the Garden of Eden, but they plan to transform the world into a gigantic post office. Every man but one a subordinate clerk in a bureau. What an alluring utopia! What a noble cause to fight!” – Ludwig Von Mises
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 