“Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter, or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.” – John Lennox
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Thought For the Day: Either Human Intelligence Ultimately Owes Its Origin To Mindless Matter, Or There Is A Creator
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Claim, Creator, Either, First, Human Intelligence, John Lennox, Mindless Matter, Origin, Owe, Prefer, Second, Some People, Strange, Their Intelligence, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: For God So Loved the World That He Gave His One and Only Son, That Whoever Believes In Him Shall Not Perish But Have Eternal Life
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”– John 3:16
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Believe, Eternal Life, First Principles, Gave, God, Him, John 3:16, Love, Perish, Son, World
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The World Is Full of Dreamers
The World Is Full of Dreamers
by Michael Doyle
The world's history is played out on stages
Some of which have filled a thousand pages
But these pages are the stuff of unequal dreams
Those who dream by daylight do so as it seems
Not with vanity but with what makes this possible
One such man was T.E. Lawrence, who proved capable
As his life taught those things dearest reader
Of what it is that it takes to make a principled leader
Still, it is wise to remember a bit of humor each day
And those things that are the other lessons he might say
As he did the impossible to win, he did so with precision
By keeping in mind the need for clarity of vision
One of the best lessons of leadership is to have humility
Enough to allow those who follow you to maintain dignity
Being willing to serve and sacrifice with strong integrity
While speaking truth to power for your people quite loyally
The good manners of custom and compassion require showing
That you have studied the ways of your people, and in knowing
Their dreams and lives and the beauty of their mystery
And in so doing begin to create your own paths of history
This is how leaders dream greatness into the lives well-led
Taking others to the impossible of lives from rivers that are fed
On the paths across the deserts, which are quite like oceans
Subject to a million emotions and channeled devotions
Despite the numerous obstacles that make a struggle impossible
The true leader helps followers to know that they are capable
Nothing is written until a visionary writes it in his head
And pushes forward on behalf of all those he or she has led
In the scheme of things, of all the people who are found
Each must be known among the details of the total battleground
The best among the led, follow as a matter of their own pleasure
And that secret alone has the most value given away in treasure
(c) December 2, 2023 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Capable, Clarity, Daylight, Dreamers, History, Lawrence of Arabia, Leadership, Pages, Poetry and Poems, Possible, Stage, T.E. Lawrence, Unequal Dreams, Vanity, Vision, World
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Thought For the Day: The Art of Poetry Is To Touch the Passions, and Its Duty To Lead Them On the Side of Virtue
“The art of poetry is to touch the passions, and its duty to lead them on the side of virtue.” – William Cowper
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Art, Duty, Lead, Passions, Poetry, Side, Thought For the Day, Touch, Virtue, William Cowper
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First Principles: There Can Be No Greater Error Than To Expect or Calculate Upon Real Favors From Nation to Nation
“There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from Nation to Nation. ‘Tis an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.“ – George Washington (1796)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Calculate, Cure, Expect, Experience, First Principles, George Washington, Greater Error, Illusion, Nation, Pride, Real Favor
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Christmas Tree Lane
Christmas Tree Lane
by Michael Doyle
Life can throw its curve balls
Yet, still, it is that Christmas calls
With Christmas lights bringing good cheer
Even when a little sadness nears
A smile offered over a little wine
Helps to smooth the edgy lines
Bringing joy and times of goodwill
Felt between neighbors in this Christmas tale
Christmas Tree Lane
Sugar plum fairies and candy canes
The sleigh bells ring
Out the joy this season brings
Seeing the world through children's eyes
Staying up to greet the sunrise
Christmas lights sparkle on the home's eaves
All in wait for Christmas Eve
A thousand icicles, neon, and bright lights
Shine their beauty into December's night
Reminding us of the best of love
That looks over us from the heavens above
Christmas Tree Lane
Sugar plum fairies and candy canes
The sleigh bells ring
Out the joy this season brings
Christmas isn't about the money spent
Or holding on to the memories that went
Like thieves springing into the night
But in treasuring each moment and holding tight
Kris Kringle knows and isn't missing
The joy brought to those we're kissing
It's the detours in life that give us smiles
And bring us the surprises that are worthwhile
Christmas Tree Lane
Sugar plum fairies and candy canes
The sleigh bells ring
Out the joy this season brings
Down beneath the treasured mistletoe
Is the warmth enough to melt the snow
While hugs and kisses make us glow
Taking selfies enough that we might know
The happiness shared this time of year
Spread between us with our Christmas cheer
With our loved ones that we hold near
Knowing each heart that we hold dear
Christmas Tree Lane
Sugar plum fairies and candy canes
The sleigh bells ring
Out the joy this season brings
(c) December 1, 2023 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Beauty, Beneath, Bright Lights, Candy Canes, Children's Eyes, Christmas, Christmas Calls, Christmas Cheer, Christmas Eve, Christmas Lights, Christmas Tale, Christmas Tree Lane, Curve Bals, December's Night, Detours, Each Heart, Eave, Edgy Lines, Glow, Good Cheer, Good Will, Happiness, Heavens Above, Hold Dear, Hold Near, Holding On, Holding Tight, Holiday, Hugs and Kisses, Humor, Icicles, Joy, Kissing, Know, Kris Kringle, Life, Lights, List, Love, Loved Ones, Melt, Memories, Missing, Mistletoe, Moment, Money Spent, Neighbors, Neon, Poetry and Poems, Remind, Sadness, Season, See, Selfies, Share, Shine, Sing, Sleigh Bells, Smile, Smooth, Snow, Song, Sparkle, Spread, Staying Up, Sugar Plum Fairies, Sunrise, Surprise, Thieves, Time of Year, Treasure, Tree, Warmth, Went, Wine, World, Worthwhile
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First Principles: The General Spread of the Light of Science Has Laid Open…That the Mass of Mankind Has Not Been Born With Saddles On Their Backs
“All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride legitimately, by the grace of God.” – Thomas Jefferson (1826)
Thought For the Day: Labels Are For Things Men Make, Not For Men. The Most Primitive Man Is Too Complex To Be Labeled
“Labels are for the things men make, not for men. The most primitive man is too complex to be labeled.”- Rex Stout, novelist (1 Dec 1886-1975
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Labeled, Labels, Men Make, Primitive Man, Rex Stout, Things, Thought For the Day, Too Complex
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A Passion For Listening
A Passion For Listening
by Michael Doyle
In the set of all possible worlds,
I pause
Thinking of the multiverses behind
The first cause
And I realize that the chasm between
Finite and infinite
Is something that, at this time, we find
Cannot be definitive
But one thing that is defined
Is that to me, it has occurred
And that is the need for all human beings
To feel as though they've been heard
And with a shrug of history, it seems
There seems nothing to this mystery
In the beginning, before the big bang,
There was the Word of deity
Truth told is that without having felt heard as needed
Our desired prayers will not be heeded
And that war will continue between nations
And peoples however much we have pleaded
Even though the truth is
We are all relations
The passion to listen
Must be cultivated
Carefully weeding out mindless vanity
And be nurtured as if fated
It is a wave function that
Shapes our sense of reality
As together, we all dance the dance
That is a dance of living variability
Life is rarely one lived with
Absolute certainty
But instead, life is a matter of
Unfixed probability
It is only when we truly begin to listen
With a passion that gives dignity
That we will rise above the passive skill
Giving the other side our empathy
That we will find the utility of giving
Respect and curiosity
With this passion of listening well
We will reach deeper understanding
Ourselves and all others will begin
Healing as God has been commanding
To love one another is the second
Greatest command in true worship
The secret that has been missed yet told is we cannot
Love God without right relationship
(c) November 30, 2023 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Beginning, Between Nations, Certainty, Chasm, Command, Cultivate, Curiosity, Dance the Dance, Deeper Understanding, Defined, Definitive, Deity, Desired Prayers, Dignity, Empathy, Fat, Felt Heard, Finite and Infinite, First Cause, Give, Heal, Heard, Heeded, Human Beings, Listen, Love God, Love One Another, Mindless Vanity, Missed, Multiverses, Mystery, Needed, Nothing, Nurture, Occur, Other Side, Passion, Passive Skill, Pause, Peoples, Plead, Poetry and Poems, Rar, Respect, Right Relationship, Secret, Sense of Reality, Set of All Possible Worlds, Shape, Shrug of History, The Big Bang, the Word, Time, True Worship, Truth, Unfixed Probabilty, Utility, Variability, War, Wave Function, We Are All Relations, Weed
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Thought For the Day: If We Only Listened With the Same Passion That We Feel About Being Heard
“If we only listened with the same passion that we feel about being heard.” – Harriet Lerner, Author and Psychologist
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Feel, Harriet Lerner, Heard, Listened, Passion, Same, Thought For the Day, We
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