When the truth's told even in the best of times A heart should beware of the easiest rhymes Keeping an eye out for the details of the Devil Is best because we know he's never on the level
There's a crass commercialism that makes a contest Of who can out Christmas who and be the best As if the modern age lost its way and isn't teasin' In having completely forgotten the reason for the season
The Coca-Cola Santa isn't here for any such fights But he is okay with turning on the bright lights Everywhere parades and decorations are on display It's just too bad that we haven't time enough to pray
With all the hustle and bustle here and there, about There's no question that we have room enough to doubt What it is that we need to save this from being tragic Is to find the spark of a bit more Christmas magic
Today's Christmas is different than it never really was And we have to be careful for no real reason, just because The things that we wish for can come their own kind of true It sometimes feels like a dark side point of view
It pays to be careful of playing up too much dazzle To much gimmickry can become a frustrating frazzle Though harks may yet herald and the angelic host sing You can only be Christmas king in the joy that you bring
And if it is that you bring no real joy at all? Maybe your kind of holiday already came in the Fall The message here is to be careful of what you wish Because you might fall onto the naughty list!
While holy God and repentant sinners may reconcile The purpose of Christmas is more than just to smile But to spend a little time in soulful reflection It's the best way to make the true Christmas connection
(c) December 6, 2023 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Perjury is often bold and open. It is truth that is shamefaced – as, indeed, in many cases is no more than decent.” – Charles Darling, 1st Baron Darling
The bones of rock-n-roll flowed through with authority In the American zeitgeist that Frank Zappa made legendary Spinning tales from hippies to yuppies in a vast conspiracy It became tragically hipper as it grew to become legendary
He was as vehement in his woe and travails of morality As he was flamboyant in his presentation as he saw reality Free speech was comically weighed on Lady Justice's scales As Zappa wove his dark side merry go around of musical tales
Zappa didn't overly moralize or seek out to preach But instead to encourage thinking and to subtly reach Society around him to think and through this maybe smile It was something in his humor that glowed through his style
A listen into the rabbit-hole is revealing of hipster guile Where glimpses of hypocrisy satirize into a mind-numbing smile It's a satire of our country’s blank-eyed habits gone for broke In so much truth told that it would traumatize the sleeping Woke
The whining of conformity became a freak out of some enormity As Zappa stepped America into the spotlight of truthful comedy Providing us insight into the squalor and levels of hypocrisy Formed in the lyricism of the urban scenesters in their frivolity
Zappa didn't overly moralize or seek out to preach But instead to encourage thinking and to subtly reach Society around him to think and through this maybe smile It was something in his humor that glowed through his style
Funk-infected sounds crunch the denseness of the avantgarde Shared risibly and, yet innocent, with a swarthy regard Like a wounded coil flaring statements filled with flimsy values In a world remarkably intense and smattering of multi-colored hues
Speaking the evil-like slime that passes prime on television Gorgeous melodies are played on the vibraphone with precision Madcap narratives capped these songs with a sense of bawdiness That was only matched by its surreal sense of naughtiness
Zappa didn't overly moralize or seek out to preach But instead to encourage thinking and to subtly reach Society around him to think and through this maybe smile There was something about his humor flowing into his style
(c) December 5, 2023 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“I don’t believe in playing down to children, either in life or in motion pictures. I didn’t treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers, and I think no parent should. Children are people, and they should have to reach to learn about things, to understand things, just as adults have to reach if they want to grow in mental stature. Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. – Walt Disney, entrepreneur and animator (5 Dec 1901-1966).
(Questions of Life) However Inspired by Michael Doyle
However it was inspired Life came to be fired Sparked a billion years ago And continued on in its flow
Though no man was there Science believes it clear Neurons appeared 400,000 year ago But who can truly know?
From the neuron formation Came just enough information To provide the first cause for action To be sparked into visible traction
From this primordial splash of soup Lucy arose from this full-tilt loop Giving us this gift we often give away A billion years have passed to lead us to today
Given all this time that we've had to mature We may be facing a smackdown by Mother Nature This major fail might be taking away all of this It seems kind of sad for what might be a near-miss
We seem to be handcuffed to this losing position Unless we have the courage enough for transition All the little flashpoints along the way Were warnings, so all the other predators say
In the end, there'll be no one left to question Why we never seemed to have the least hesitation Until it was much, too much, too late To find the necessary courage or even debate
The better ways, more importantly, the necessary ways To bring us through this darkness to better days Until, at last, we can only raise our hands in prayer While wondering why God only pauses in disbelief to stare
How is it that we have run full-tilt, edged to the brink Feeling the fools for having failed to think? All this comes from two neurons brought together You'd have thought things would have turned out better
.... Maybe it's time to take a drink?
(c) December 4, 2023 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives.” – John Adams (1756)
As Emmanuel, He walked among us As it was, simply because He wanted humanity to rise to the glory That is the sum of the gospel story
John's narrative came from a unique perspective Tangible as a tale of his close experience In the beginning, was the Word, simply there That with, and is, God as part of triune made clear
As being one in the doctrine of incarnation God in the flesh serves as the holiest inspiration Given man in two miracles - conception in the womb And freedom for man in the resurrection from the tomb
Fully God, fully man - living a life immeasurable A life that was impassable and immutable A life that expressed that of the things in life that change God is the one thing that never rearranges
Yet, while the moments of life bring us to compassion Such pulled heartstrings are not God's true fashion His is the fullness of needed strength and mercy Given unchanging throughout mankind's history
In the actus purus that blends the potential of the ages Truth becomes filtered, as it were, by the good sages Logos, ethos, and pathos have a pattern of showing How credibility and reason bring the processes of knowing
That the study of God's faith is the beginning Of comprehensibly understanding the origin of sinning As unbelievers tilt at the windmills of explanation Their cherry-picking having no part in God's incarnation
Leaned in with an intellectual sense of integrity It is the philosophical sophistication within Christian legacy That the Logos is indeed the beginning of all wisdom As God opened history's page one for His kingdom
By turning the nothingness of chaos into sufficiency Making something wonderful from within God's majesty God always has been and always will forever be Identified as creator, not craftsman, of all eternity
Forever cosmic and cozy from His cradle to risen grave Every step of faith taken was given to us to save The impact as worshipped and told as if indeed set apart Yet, living daily in the walk of every believer's heart
I stand amazed at His awesome sense of creativity Wonderous, indeed, from before His humble nativity Mankind's walk of history is marked by His commitment That knows only patience and given without resentment
He has been unwavering in always being there present In a full court press that is as perfect as it is pleasant Giving His love with all of His generous confidence And has always walked with us providing His providence
As a savior facing the world in all of its wrongs His faith in us teaches us that humanity truly belongs As one with love within the sanctity of God's family Removing chaos with the Christ given in His divinity
This then, in its meekness, is the truth of the Christian story Shared with us in all the gospels in their fullest glory It is the truth we walk in, in our humblest of prayers Knowing our Lord, Jesus, has laid this truth bear
I see this now as it's seen in its full clarity Hitting my heart with the plainest of sincerity In seeing this, I com to know my rightful place Wrapped inside the Father's loving embrace
(c) December 3, 2023 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
