“Peace is not to be purchased by the sacrifice of truth.” – John Calvin
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First Principles: Peace Is Not To Be Purchased By the Sacrifice of Truth
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Tagged First Princples, John Calvin, Peace, Purchase, Sacrifice, Truth
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Quiver
Quiver
by Michael Doyle
I reach for words from a quiver of choices,
Drowning in a wave of three kinds of voices.
This, then, is what makes up the poet's armory
And the choices made make for dissonance or harmony.
I find myself talking to me or sometimes nobody,
But always I fake my truths as though I do this nobly.
Sometimes I do these things as if before an audience,
At other times, I only whisper quietly in my defiance.
Defiantly, I struggle with my bouts of creativity.
At times, even I am convinced by attempts at ingenuity.
I rummage through words I can't put another sort of way.
And this then, is how I busy myself usefully in my day.
When no one is looking I create drama within my verse,
Trying to conjure T.S. Elliot, but maybe a bit perverse.
Because I know his greatness is something of I'm not capable.
But maybe if I try, I might say something notable.
Rafael's century of sonnets signal the inner path
Of star-crossed lovers as slaves to the god of math.
The Brownings waltzed across the pages well respected.
Yet, a million other lovers will remain forever neglected.
Defiantly, I struggle with my bouts of creativity.
At times, even I am convinced by attempts at ingenuity.
I rummage through words I can't put another sort of way.
And this then, is how I busy myself usefully in my day.
A Shakespeare is only found in his characters created,
But what he said touched the soul, and is widely imitated.
Through his words is found the truth most forbidden,
That poetry is everywhere and yet it remains half hidden.
A great love poem is meant to be casually overheard.
We all know this as our lives crisscross becoming blurred.
All of us hurt differently exhausting moments good and bad.
We know we have made a difference when others catch our sad.
Defiantly, I struggle with my bouts of creativity.
At times, even I am convinced by attempts at ingenuity.
I rummage through words I can't put another sort of way.
And this then, is how I busy myself usefully in my day.
(c) March 2, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Armory, Attempt, Audience, Bout, Busy, Capable, Choiices, Creativity, Defiance, Dissonance, Drama, Fake, Harmony, Ingenuity, Inner Path, Life, Love, Neglect, Noble, Notable, Poet, Poetry and Poems, Quiver, Rafael, Respect, Rummage, Sonnet, Star-Crossed Lovers, T.S. Elliot, Talk, The Brownings, Truth, Verse, Voices, Waltz, Whisper, Word, Words, Writing
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First Principles: Liberty Is A Word Which, According As It Is Used, Comprehends the Most Good and the Most Evil of Any In the World
“Liberty is a word which, according as it is used, comprehends the most good and the most evil of any in the world.” – Oliver Ellsworth
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Tagged Comprehension, First Princples, Liberty, Most Evil, Most Good, Oliver Ellsworth, Word, World
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Thought For the Day: Kindness Is the Language Which the Deaf Can Hear and the Blind Can See
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain
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Tagged Blind, Deaf, Hear, Kindness, Language, Mark Twain, See, Thought For the Day
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Joseph: Into the Lord’s Presence
Joseph: Into the Lord's Presence
by Michael Doyle
God reveals His wonders in wonders spoken.
We who believe do our best though we're broken.
We walk our best in this mystical game.
We do our best to play our part in the fame.
Faithfulness walks among those seeming ordinary,
And by their belief, each becomes extraordinary.
We are surrounded by a crowd of witnesses, then,
Running toward the Lord and away from Satan's sin.
Joseph started as the youngest in a dysfunctional family
And grew into a righteous, upright man walking holy.
God's perspective is always from the upper story,
He keeps His image of us framed within pure glory.
One day, Joseph had a most fantastic dream.
In it, he would be king, surreal as this seems.
As the baby of his family, it was in the presentment
That brought this dreamer his brothers' resentment.
Joseph's story begins as one of rabid jealousy,
One that grew out of the worst of sibling rivalry.
He was sold by his brothers into Egyptian slavery.
Yet, somehow, the Lord turned this into godly history
Difficulties and challenges come to all
As we walk, we listen to the Lord's call,
We join together as a solid community,
And we know that we are part of God's family.
We trust in God in times tough and demanding.
These are the times we rely on God's understanding.
Life must be lived with goodness and honesty.
This brings the rewards that flow from integrity.
We keep focused on Go, in all times, good and bad,
Looking past all that might leave us feeling sad.
Life is filled with too many "one of these days."
This is when we must rely on God and His ways.
Still, as we focus on God, as we are told,
It is our joy to endure as we watch life unfold.
At times, it is hard to have the courage to conceive
That our part of this equation is to trust and believe.
In all of our hopes and good plans made,
We move ahead, living life unafraid.
We love to interpret our most vivid dreams,
And make these as real as they seem.
Whatever answer comes from God's hand,
We must love our best, trust, and understand.
We must focus on the living God and loving one another.
God's plans work when each of us learns to love others.
Our focus determines the outcome of our reality.
There will be darkness until in our capability
We find peace in the middle of life's mystery,
And that will become the course of our living history.
God's faithfulness will fulfill our meaning.
It's how it is in our lives as human beings.
Our commitment to faith and walking life in trust,
Provides the paths that God creates for us as He must.
(c)March 1, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Believe, Beliief, Bible, Broken, Christianity, Courage, Crowd of Witnesses, Difficulties and Challeges, Dream, Dysfunctional Family, Egypt, Endurance, Extraordinary, Faith, Faithfulness, Focus, Glory, God, History, Holy, ibling Rivalry, Iimage, Integriry, Jealousy, Jesus, Joseph, Joy, Lord, One of These ays, Ordinary, Poetry and Poems, pper Story, Precpectve, Presence, Reliace, Resentment, Righteouus, Run, Satan's Sin, Slavery, The Lord, Wonders
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Thought For the Day: The Whole Difference Between Construction and Creation Is Exactly This: That A Thing Constructed Can Only Be Loved After It Is Constructed; But A Thing Created Is Loved Before It Exists
“The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.” – Charles Dickens
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Charles Dickens, Construction, Creationn, Differece, Loved After, Loved Before, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: For We Are God’s Handiwork, Created In Christ Jesus To Do Good Works, Which God Prepared In Advance For Us To Do
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10 NIV
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Tagged Advnce, Ceation, Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:10 NIV, First Principles, Go, God, Good Works, Handiwork, Humanity, Preparation
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Contemplation of War
Contemplation of War
by Michael Doyle
There are times to pause and wait,
When a poet breathes and contemplates.
What are the pieces and how each connects,
And what, pray tell, will come next?
It is easy enough to flex and show raw power.
But after initiation, what will control the hour?
To this heart and mind, peace is the preference.
The decision to stand and fight comes with reverence.
There is gravity in this evolving situation.
There is much love for the older Iranian nation.
But there is also the need to never forget
We must take measures to eliminate an endless threat.
Asked from the frozen sea, invisible but within
Needless death is a savage and brutal form of sin.
Still, the fight did not start on our side.
It's boiled over for decades, and at last we collide.
The flames ignite, and poetry saves power from itself,
I sit here poring over volumes from my bookcase shelf.
Knowing the world as being at a point of vivid choice.
A choice in which gravity demands we take up a voice.
In a coronation of troubles, we descend into reality,
Knowing that, however right our cause, there is fatality.
And the hunger for justice will have its terrifying price.
In the end, dear Lord, I pray it will warrant the sacrifice.
(c) February 28, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Connection, Contemplatonn, Control, Decision, Endless Threat, Evolution, Flex, Forget, Gravty, Iran, Israel, Naton, Poet, Poetry and Poems, Preference, Raw Power, Reverence, United States, War
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Thought For the Day: Not Being Able To Govern Events, I Govern Myself
“Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.” – Michel de Montaigne
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Tagged Capability, Events, Govern, Michel de Montagne, Self, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: Always Vote For Principle, Though You May Vote Alone, and You May Cherish the Sweetest Reflection That Your Vote Is Never Lost
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” – John Quincy Adams
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Tagged Alone, Cherish, First Principles, John Quincy Adam, Lost, Principle, Reflecttion, Vote
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 