You can feel it in the air A discernable sense of change As you take in the world with care And watch the leaves rearrange
Summer comes to its end As Autumn starts to begin Even before leaves start to fall Halloween seems to call
Over a glass of cool cider Watching the bicycle rider Slide on by, down the trail Unconcerned about the next hill
A funny but true thought occurs As the seasons begin their blur That the ninth month was once seven And either way, Autumn's heaven
Descending like a long-lost friend It's a warm sort of season that blends School years with football season And fuzzy memories know their reason
A new chili recipe is on the stove Hinted with spices like a treasure trove The apple orchard waits for us to pick While kids talk about the treat of tricks
Coming soon enough with a pumpkin's candy And all the snuggles that come in handy As the scarecrows watch sunflowers die There as the sun sets in this Autumn's sky
(c) September 19, 2023 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Where there is no law, there is no liberty; and nothing deserves the name of law but that which is certain and universal in its operation upon all the members of the community.” – Benjamin Rush (1788)
“Where exactly does it come from, I’d like to know, this ineradicable attitude of superiority toward the past? This stubbornly dumb, can’t-kill-it-with-an-ax conviction that we, the now, critically and categorically know better than they, the past. Is it from the mere fact that their future is known to us, that we know what happens? (Nothing good.) It’s much the way we treat small children— pedantic and permissive at the same time. And we always think of the people of the past — just as we do of children — as being naïve in everything from their clothes and hairstyles to their thoughts and feelings.” – Oksana Zabuzhko , The Museum of Abandoned Secrets
“We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” – Abraham Lincoln
Today is a day that memorializes our Constitution and has become also Citizenship Day. For the United States, this should perhaps be observed with more vigor as we have clowns like Gavin Newsome increasingly pushing to overthrow our nation’s Constitution.
A place for resources pertinent to today’s observations is:
Please take a moment to learn a little more as to what compromises were made and why in order that we might form this more perfect union. For those who have a first response that there yet remains changes to be made, I would refer you to review the amendment process. For those who wish to overthrow our republican form of government, I say, over my dead body.
It is all of us, the body of people Found under God's holy steeple That makes us wonder about grace Undeserved in favor, yet we know our place
Clearly, His church is most attractive Where grace is found and is most apparent Living lives that are quiet and reflective In the love given, and is lived transparent
We are called out to learn great things That the world itself too seldom brings But can be readily found in God's story Praised be His holy name and His glory
It's that grace that removes the stains And it cuts against the fibrous grains All of us under the temple are flawed But, by God's grace, we are not outlawed
Broken sinners who've found their way to love Given freely from the grace of God above As new creations, we walk this strained land With abounding love that can be hard to understand
It's a journey of constant reconciliation Every step of the way toward our revealed destination Regardless of the sins that we commit Our faults are covered as God chooses to forget
Truth holds this all in its counterbalance Giving us no excuse for any dalliance Believers must respect God's holy Word Always and forever moving forward
God's truth is not shed as a path of humiliation Aimed at shame not needed godly toleration In God's view, there is no condemnation game Taking on the image of God holds little blame
There in the trap-like questions that lead to accusation The Pharisees' attempts to frame lead to frustration No one knows what it is that Jesus quietly wrote But there's something to learn from and take note
Slowing our speak to find the subtle and right ways We must righteously think on what it is we say There is much to learn from the ages coming before If we listen more than speak, we might learn more
God's law was fulfilled on the cross where Jesus died As the earth quaked and the despairing angels cried And we under this steeple, we're charged to do right In God's goodness, and in the truth of His holy light
The wages of sin are and continue to be death But with God's grace, our reprieve gives us breath Believing in the truth that Jesus died for us all And all we need do is repent, confess, and recall
(c) September 17, 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
