“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
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First Principles: The Happiness of Your Life Depends Upon the Quality of Your Thoughts
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Dependent, First Principles, Happiness, Life, Marcus Aurelus, Quality, Thoughts
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All the Noise In Rome
All the Noise In Rome
by Michael Doyle
How then does one complete this?
A dome must be in place for completeness.
A thousand crazed ideas are heard in a jumble,
But only one is stated with deafening meekness.
There is only one way to refine
The majestic path focused on the divine.
Gazing on the riddle beyond compare
Requires completion in mid-air.
Though hearts on fire will not relent,
This is the answer to time well spent.
Gazing on the magnificent dome,
And shutting out all the noise of Rome.
There is not one dome but two.
The supporting dome is hidden from view.
While the other is made of delicate herringbone,
And the only one that appears to stand alone.
Such choices are made by faith and from love.
What greater symbol to show faith in the above.
And so one of the greatest works of architectural art,
Depended that day on a leap of faith in De Medici's heart
Greatness received depends on the greatness given,
And the acceptance of any needed forgiveness given.
We learn our place through such spiritual tools.
Otherwise, we would remain as simple fools.
Making work projects to the benefit of spirituality
Is destined, in part, to build a model economy.
Feeding the hungry on ideas as thin as air
Is like one hand blessing the other until all is repaired.
Faith and beauty provide the way
For leaders and heroes to save the day,
While some only know the destruction of war,
The believers dare for that impossible something more.
We live in the climb out of the muck by humanity,
To learn of beauty and strive for our nobility.
Our common life teaches us to dress in humility
For all of this was given to us by the Divinity.
(c) March 16, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Architecture, Art, Choice, Completon, De Medicii, Divne, Dome, Faith, Gaze, Heart, Hearts On Fire, Herringbone, Ideas, Juumble, Leap of Faith, Love, Majestic Path, Noise, Poetry ad Poems, Refine, Relent, Riddlle, Rome, The Above, Time Well Spet
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Thought For the Day: Think Before You Speak. Is It True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?
“THINK before you speak. Is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?” – Alan Redpath
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Alan Redpath, Helpful, Inspiring, Kind, Necessary, Speak, Think, Thought For the Day, True
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First Principles: We Have Staked the Future of All Our Political Constitutions Upon the Capacity of Each of Ourselves To Govern Ourselves According To the Moral Principles of the Ten Commandments
“We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.” – James Madison
Today is the anniversary of President James Madison’s birth!
Meditation On the Boanerges
Mediation On the Boanerges
by Michael Doyle
Sometimes we feel the fire
Wishing harshness to the wire.
The Sons of Thunder felt this frustration,
Impassioned to spread zeal across their nation.
No, it's not a bad thing,
To live life with a bit of zing,
Not lukewarm but filled with emotion.
Passion drives courage and devotion.
Not going through motions, but filled with joy -
Like evangelism's urges at the ready to deploy.
This is a rescue mission to save souls.
The fire inside is what best consoles.
Followers aligned with God's heart
Is what we see from glory's start.
Imperfection isn't such a bad thing,
And you and I are to live with zing.
If you feel your thunder, you're in good company,
Like some of the best in the disciples and family.
But never be distracted by life's disturbing noise.
There is resolution among the thunderous girls and boys.
Some on life's road will find Jesus rejected.
Or at best, we might find faith neglected.
We must patiently wait for the chance to save.
It's just how it is, this side of the grave.
At times along the way, God will offer correction.
It is ours to correct course in the right direction.
All the good that we will and can ever do
Depends on keeping the fire with every chance to pursue.
There are times we'll move on to get our move on.
Jesus will direct us s to what to improve on.
Never mind thoughts of shame that can create a break.
We cannot be held back by our last mistake.
As long as we are human, errors will come our way.
These come to teach us forward to our new day.
Always move toward the path of our redemption.
There's no need for sorrow or retaliation.
There is only the need to move on in God's grace,
Knowing God's love and living in His embrace.
Thunderous enthusiasm will always lead the way.
To love, and love is the essence of our Christian day.
(c) March 15, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Alignment, Bible, Boanerges, Christianity, Correctioin, Courage, Devotion, Embrace, Emotion, Enthusasm, Essence, Evngelism, Faith, Feel, Fire, Fire Inside, Forward, Frustration, Glorifcation, God, God's Heart, Going Through the Motions, Grace, Human Error, Impassioned, Improvement, Jesus, Joy, Life's Road, Love, lukewarm, Meditation, Move On, Neglect, Passiioin, Patience, Poetry and Poems, Reedemption, Rejection, Rescue Mission, Resolution, Sons of Thunder, Zing
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Thought For the Day: Patience Is the Companion of Wisdom
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” – St. Augustine
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Companion, Patience, St. Augustine, Thought For the Day, Wiisom
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First Principles: Humble Yourselves Before the Lord, and He Will Lift You Up
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” – James 4:10
Posted in First Principles
Tagged First Principles, Humility, James 4:10, Lift, Self, The Lord
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Nuremberg: History In Phase
Nuremberg: History In Phase
by Michael Doyle
May Seventh, Nineteen Forty-Five,
The war in Europe came to an end.
Those still living were glad to be alive.
The lessons learned were a hopeless godsend.
The inevitable capture of Hermann Göring
Set off the events that became ongoing.
These would change the world we had known.
From this, seeds of justice were sown.
Unparalleled, it was established without denial
That a nation's war crimes were subject to trial.
International cases suddenly had a special jurisdiction,
And justice could be found pressed into conviction.
Aggressive persecution of war became its own crime,
Though it had never been as such before this time.
The United States and others heard the echo of this call,
And it would have implications for us all.
Philosophy's candle draws the moth
At the alluring thought of creating law from whole cloth.
There was no precedent to hang a decision on.
Changes like this must be taken, or they will soon be gone.
An international tribunal was composed with due care,
All the necessary components were a logistical nightmare.
Still, it was something that had to be done.
Without justice served, no one could have really won.
An international deck of cards played like a trick,
There was no one to fool or to out-slick.
It ran like a fast-moving locomotive train,
Trying desperately hard to outdrive the rain.
All tricks of the mind come down to perception.
Sleight of hand comes more to belief than deception.
The mind tends to see what it wants to see.
This is the illusion beneath political psychology.
Such are the paths of propaganda and history,
With so much of it garbled in thinly veiled mystery.
There are exceptions to exceptions that are notable,
And the rest, as they say, remains vaguely quotable.
(c) March 14, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
First Principles: The True Liberty of the Press Is Amply Secured By Permitting Every Man To Publish His Opinion
“The true liberty of the press is amply secured by permitting every man to publish his opinion; but it is due to the peace and dignity of society, to inquire into the motives of such publications, and to distinguish between those which are meant for use and reformation, and with an eye solely to the public good, and those which are intended merely to delude and defame. To the latter description, it is impossible that any good government should afford protection and impunity.” – Thomas McKean
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Dignity, First Principles, Motive, Own Opinion, Peace, Permit, Press, Public Good, Publication, Publish, Secure, Society, Thomas McKean, True Liberty, Use and Reformaation
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Thought For the Day: Light Makes Photography. Embrace Light. Admire It. Love It. But Above All, Know Light.
“Light makes photography. Embrace light.” – George Eastman
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Admire, Embrace, George Eastman, Key, Know, Light, Love, Photography, Thought For the Day, Worth
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 