“There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.” – John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, 1776
“In a perfect union the man and woman are like a strung bow. Who is to say whether the string bends the bow, or the bow tightens the string?” -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (10 Sep 1903-1974)
Wall of Ego
by Michael Doyle
Self righteous Pharisees
Are often truth's worst enemies
In looking down on others, you miss the skies
Self-deceived by our prideful, lying eyes
Missing the mark of God, in favor of me
Believing myself the pilot of my life
I mistake my boastfulness in blasphemy
Walking straight into unneeded strife
Comparing myself to others in cognition
It strikes a chord of prideful recognition
Mistaking our self given superiority
We walk through life in pretended respectability
I see this as a fault revealed in me
Stumbled in these moments of the compared against
I lose my steps towards God's divinity
Replacing it with unwarranted times of arrogance
Self worth becomes determined by evaluation
Driven by the reality we choose to want to see
But when we know Heaven is our final destination
This is where we should define our identity
Forgetting the success of others in celebration
Life in the spotlight cheapens the victory
Squeezing gifted people away in our self-fascination
The pride before the fall is a circle of self sympathy
Loudly insisting on a say in everything
Controlling all that is to be ever known
Forgetting in the tale that adds up to nothing
Because we can never know the story full-blown
If we are even going to aspire to the God flow
There is one thing is for certain and sure
We all have to find our living beyond the wall of ego
And realize that humility is the cure
Bad habits are the way of second nature
There in the complaints that have become a part
That keeps us back from spirituality to mature
Until at last we make humbleness the habit of the heart
(c) September 10, 2021 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.” – Patrick Henry (1788)
“And this I must fight against: any idea, religion or government which limits or destroys the individual. … I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind, for this is the one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system.” – John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
“A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right and evil doesn’t become good just because it’s accepted by a majority. ” – Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
“Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.” – John Adams, 1765
The Problem of Pride
by Michael Doyle
Easily known
Pride is the disease
We've seen this and it shows
Putting us all ill at ease
Seen in others, we forget
All of those things
We struggle and yet we forget
All the troubles, living brings
Seemingly standing positive
But we think on the past
Spinning into the contemplative
We wear our pride in things that will not last
It can be good in affirmation
Exercised with dignity and respect
We need to walk past their confirmation
And guard against negatives easy to neglect
Pride is the genesis of every sin
Haughty eyes, lying tongues, killing the moment
Those who sow discord again and again
No lesson could be more relevant to our living present
(c) September 7, 2021 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
“The dustbin of history is littered with remains of those countries that relied on diplomacy to secure their freedom. We must never forget … in the final analysis … that it is our military, industrial and economic strength that offers the best guarantee of peace for America in times of danger.” – Ronald Reagan
“When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen; and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in the happy hour when the establishment of American Liberty, upon the most firm and solid foundations shall enable us to return to our private stations in the bosom of a free, peacefully and happy country.” – George Washington (1775)
Văn Học Ngoại Biên — Literature Beyond
-Reviews, Advice & News For All Things Tech and Gadget Related-
Shape Your Mind, Body, and Spirit to Prosperity
Traveling Fashion Designers 🌼
A daily dose of God’s touch in a minute...
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
Looking ahead, without looking back (too often)
"What a strange bundle of consistent inconsistencies we all are." Mary Ronan
Spiritual Hope . Joyful Faith . Trust in God
My Mormon (sic exmo, cultural, ethnic?) Transgender Second Life
Al cielo.. e niente di meno!🌈
Book Reviewer and Blogger
Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of her life, every quality of her mind, is written large in her works.
Grow. Glow. Inspire!
time management coaching
Sacred Indicators of Body, Heart and Soul.
Master of some trades, Jill of the rest.
