First Principles: We Know That Families and Churches, Not Government Officials, Know Best How To Create A Strong and Loving Community…We Don’t Worship Government. We Worship God.

“We know that families and churches, not government [officials], know best how to create a strong and loving community. … In America we don’t worship government. We worship God.” – Donald Trump

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Thought For the Day: Now More Than Ever, We Need To Embrace the Family As the Central Unit of Our Society. Restoration of the Family Is At the Core of Restoring the American Dream

“Now more than ever, we need to embrace the family as the central unit of our society. Restoration of the family is at the core of restoring the American Dream for everyone.” – former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

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First Principles: Where There Is No Law, There Is No Liberty

“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)

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Troubled Thoughts In the Night

Shamatha
Troubled Thoughts In the Night
by Michael Doyle

Life knows its best
Spoken like a new language
It's written in secret alphabet
You can feel its rising heat
Somewhere in that middle passage
Without words it reveals its secret

A divine messenger sings
On the wind like a ghost song
Where it hangs misunderstood
With icy claws death stings
Hopeless as notes that do not belong
Yet sustained in hope that it could

Bring power into the lonely night
Starless, stainless immaculate notions
The sky turned red as if it is burning
Pierced with thoughts that are not right
Shrouding life's feast in a tatter of emotions
Troubling even Solomon's wisdom in their discerning

The doctors bring whispers of death
And treat it as if with great patience
This too shall come to its passing
Two months waiting with held breath
Puzzling over the protocols in sequence
There's no need in borrowing troubles massing

(c) June 7, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Shamatha - The Liion's Share

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Thought For the Day: You Won’t Get Gun Control By Disarming Law-Abiding Citizens

“You won’t get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. … There’s only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up and if you don’t actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time… It’s a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun control laws. I happen to know this from personal experience.” – Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

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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)

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In the I-IV-VII

Whimberly 2022 - Scruffy Shepherd

In the II IV VII
by Michael Doyle

In the I IV VII
I just might play
My way to blues heaven
But I wouldn’t want to really say.

It’s just another moment in this day
Troubles found and troubles gone
No real matter to how it’s drawn
I get the blues just about every day
When my guitar begins to cry and play

Curved in circles inside my mind
Unsure of what I hope to find
The questions asked come on loud
One too many seems a crowd

But when the timing is right
I dig in deep into the night
Letting the strings sing their song
Every note where it belongs

In the I IV VII
I just might play
My way to blues heaven
But I wouldn’t want to really say.

It’s just another moment in this day
Troubles found and troubles gone
No real matter to how it’s drawn
I get the blues just about every day
When my guitar begins to cry and play

The crossroads take my soul
Living life in its groove of slow roll
Tumbling dice fall as they will
Losing their way into their chill

Tomorrow seems just another day
When there’s nothing left to say
But the feeling burns a sting so hot
In things better left to be forgot

Sitting there in a room full of memory
Slidiing tones a bit incendiary
As these etch inside my lost mind
Who am I fooling in the notes iI find

In the I IV VII
I just might play
My way to blues heaven
But I wouldn’t want to really say.

It’s just another moment in this day
Troubles found and troubles gone
No real matter to how it’s drawn
I get the blues just about every day
When my guitar begins to cry and play

(c) June 6, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

Whimberly 2022 - Standing In A Field of Pollen

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Thought For the Day: I Had the Blues Because I Had No Shoes Until Upon the Street, I Met A Man Who Had No Feet

“I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.” – Denis Waitley

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First Principles: What Can Be Added To the Happiness of A Man Who Is In Health, Out of Debt, and Has A Clear Conscience?

“What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?” – Adam Smith, economist (5 Jun 1723-1790)

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Blessed, Broken, and Given

Lemon Trees The Art Between Seasons -When Even the Tardis Has Broken Down  (Waiting On A Friend)
Blessed, Broken, and Given
by Michael Doyle

We live in the era of the offended
While we've forgotten that we're friended
By a friend who teaches in His story
The ways to move past offense into glory

Have a sharp mind in every interrogation
Finding discernment in clear interpretation
Having a thick skin to let the right things in
And keeping those things out that lead to sin

We must, like Jesus, walk with still, soft heart
Never letting our joy and compassion ever depart
These are the lessons by yesterday being same as today
Patterns exist to discern and grow with in every way

Breaking the bread in memory of His resurrection
Giving thanks for these pattern of circumspection
Blessed first, then broken, until we are forgiven
All of this is present in the lived promises given

The more that we give, the more that we get
It's an important lesson that we must never forget
A spiritual blessing is perfection at its best
This is a lesson in life contently put to test

We must become less like the world living outside
And grown more like the God in whom it is we confide
Regaining life through His righteous crucifixion
That saved us all in its sacredness of distinction

Sin is to be punished first, yet the cross is the bridge
Between man's seasons crossing that heartbreak ridge
Betrayals come and go as they do with life's ebb and flow
But if we listen to God, we'll know the direction to go

If you want to know who in your life is truly legit
Pay attention to their actions after they've been hit
Betrayal with a kiss always comes with its share of cost
For 30 pieces of silver, a soul's integrity was lost

It's not the moments but the depths of one's motive
That sets out a life's achievements in their perspective
The disappointments in life teach truth to us all
These are the lessons that we must always recall

Before the rooster crows thrice, we'll break into tears
With all the private tragedies felt in our passing years
Pointed fingers of aggravation have a way of pointing back
We certainly do not need mirror to know what it is we lack

No amount of water will ever wash away our tragic mistakes
Not when it comes to our deepest and greatest heartbreaks
Culture's fickleness takes advantage in its fullest price
This is a matter of certainty and not a roll of the dice

Hatred holds its horrors revealed in their fullest details
That tear at the heart and flesh like a cat-o-nine tails
And still it is that we must pause to gracefully give grace
If it is the ways of God that we truly wish to embrace

Two great commandments exist to help us take down the fence
Of always dying through living lives filled with offense
Stop taking stings personal when these serve a purpose
Allowing motion to bring the end in acceptance and repose

Let us forgive and let go all of the hurts of life
Canceling the debts that double up with our strife
It is the truth that we don't know what it is we do
Yet, forgiveness is the best path for me and you

(c) June 5, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Impact Mental Health - Spotlight On the Broken Arrows of Time

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