First Principles: National Defense Is One of the Cardinal Duties of A Statesman

“National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman.” – John Adams (1815)

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In Kalkota’s Slum

In Kalkota's Slum
by Michael Doyle

Even in the Kalkota ghetto,
You can see courage in the shadows.
Youths capture the waters of history
While finding hope for tomorrow's mystery.

Revolutionary optimists fetch the water
While knowing so little of mother or father.
Living life there in the filth of the street
Makes it hazardous to walk in bare feet.

Working early to come home late,
It's the curse of the caste consigned by fate.
The local politicians claim they are trying.
The best bet is that they're lying.

Clean water in the slums is a pity.
It will never be the case in a place so gritty.
Talk doesn't cure poverty in this community.
It never has in all of history.

The Kolkota slum community knows
That change comes as its children grow.
It takes courage, be it water or polio.
The children carry the message the world needs to know.

Life here, like any community, is for the brave.
It's a struggle to live from cradle to early grave.
A new day dawns as an old day is dying,
All around these slums, the world is caught sighing.

All around, even the children work hard.
They are given the scraps of so little to discard.
The kiln burns from morning into the night
While the laborers build and rebuild all that is in sight.

The children still dream as they work overly hard,
Learning that most of the world sees them as discard.
Still, they dare to break the world's unspoken rule.
They will make a better life by going to school.

Man is made to do more than labor since first born,
Ending his day's labor near to the next day's morn.
The costs of freedom are most hinted at as sublime,
But the truth of this takes a little time.

If life in the ghetto will have improvement,
Its truth must begin in its measurement.
There in freedom and pride in leaning to decide.
Yet, most of us just go along for the grand ride.

(c) November 4, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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First Principles: Let There Be No Change By Usurpation; For Though This, In One Instance, May Be the Instrument of the Good, It Is the Customary Weapon By Which Free Governments Are Destroyed

“If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.” – George Washington

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Thought For the Day: More, and More, Journalism Seems To Have Hopped Out of Truth’s Pocket and Crept Into Another

“More and more, journalism seems to have hopped out of Truth’s pocket and crept into another.” – Henry Rollins

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Shift of Perspective

Shift of Perspective
by Michael Doyle

My joy is hard to keep hid,
All that is, my savior did.
Jesus walked among us, His Father's son.
The three-in-one is the one-and-done.

Walking head-on in the name of humanity,
We escape the chains of empty vanity.
Lifting our faces up from sorrow,
We are now able to face tomorrow.

None of life is an accident.
The shift becomes one of precedent.
By living out our best conscience,
We find ourselves conformed to science.

The story of Jesus is one of miracles entirely.
His death on the cross fulfills His deity.
Belief in God comes down to an empty tomb,
And this tomb leaves doubt with any wiggle room.

Paul went to the market in faith, making his claims.
Telling God's story about what is no longer the same.,
But instead brings the benchmarks of maturity
As we walk in faith with far more certainty.

It's a set of radical changes we embrace,
As we come to meet God, face-to-face.
Receiving God's blessings if we'd only choose this,
And in so doing, we will find forgiveness.

We surrender our lives and olden days
To seek after God and put on His ways.
All that we live is an act of grace,
Christ's death on the cross is all that we must face.

It's truly not a matter of second-guessing,
But of being willing to accept God's blessing.
Through God's will, we find our peace and rest.
This then is the truth of our deepest test.

Steadfast in commitment to our salvation,
We find it's a journey to shore up our foundation.
One foot after another, we continue toward
All these things that move us ever forward.

Dreams carry weight beyond our immortality,
All for the good of God's larger family.
As our hours move to being later,
We see that what we accomplish becomes greater.

From a little town in Galilee
We find the roots given for Christianity.
Changed games have one by one brought the win
As God's people rise to overcome our sins.

Heart to hearth, we continue to give
It's, in a sense, a repayment of how God forgives.
We lose our comfort for the sake of adversity
Looking on the horizon to what possibly could be

Staying on the edge of Straight Street,
This is where goodness and people often meet.
Those struggling are often those who learn to see
This is the shift of perspective that brings our dignity.

Every Christian's life is one filled with trials.
Sometimes, we feel wonder in our survival.
But at each step we take, we ensure our arrival.
By making it through the grind of daily survival.

Paul turns prisons into epistles of stony love,
Keeping the faith handed to him from above.
The truth of our journey is told by its end.
In our arrival, we find Jesus is our friend.

(c) November 3, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: Only A Virtuous People Are Capable of Freedom. As Nations Become Corrupt and Vicious, They Have More Need of Masters

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” – Benjamin Franklin

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Thought For the Day: Tolerance is the Last Virtue of A Depraved Society. When You Have an Immoral Society…There Is One Last Virtue They Insist Upon: Tolerance For Their Immorality

“Tolerance is the last virtue of a depraved society. When you have an immoral society that has blatantly, proudly, violated all of the commandments of God, there is one last virtue they insist upon: tolerance for their immorality.” – D. James Kennedy

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Season of the Lamb

Season of the Lamb
by Michael Doyle

Satan has lost his position to win,
With Christ, I no longer pursue sin.
Once, I walked this world in harshness.
But with God's love, I walked from darkness.

Instead, let me walk by daylight.
At last, I am getting life right.
I have tossed aside my chains,
And I've learned that life isn't in vain.

A lamb was sacrificed on the cross.
It was to our gain; He took the loss.
In the lamb's place a lion rose
With the flame of love, our faith grows.

It's to Jesus that I'll always sing;
Living in His patterns and joy they bring.
He is the Lord and my precious king,
Who knew the brightness His love would bring.

This is my liberation and somehow,
I looked and saw there was an empty grave now.
The light of the world shines my way,
The hour of darkness over, I live my new day.

(c) November 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: Let Us Learn From the Past To Profit By the Present, and From the Present, To Live Better In the Future

“Life is divided into three terms – that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future.” – William Wordsworth

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First Principles: For Everything That Was Written To Teach Us, So That Through the Endurance Taught In the Scriptures and the Encouragement They Provide We Might Have Hope

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.  – Romans 15:4 NIV

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