“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” – Proverbs 9:10 NIV
Flickr Photos
First Principles: The Fear of the Lord Is the Beginning of Wisdom, and Knowledge of the Holy One is Understanding
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Fear of the Lord, First Prciples, Holy One, Knowledge, Proverbs 9:10 NIV, Understanding, Wisdom
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: Do Not Follow In the Footsteps of the Wise. Seek What They Sought
“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.” – Matsuo Basho
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Follow, Footsteps, Matsuo Basho, Seek, Sought, Thought For the Ay, Wise
Leave a comment
Resistance Begun
Resistance Begun
by Michael Doyle
There are times of darkness
That leads to nihilism.
There was a time of harshness,
From it arose Nazism.
Banned music played on shortwave,
Kept by some in their secrecy
Dancing on civilization's grave.
Conformity became a form of vanity.
Worship was bent to teach to follow
Those who led in a rote form of rule.
Darkened by the Führer's shadow,
Some stood against this as brave fools.
Willing to stand up for God's way,
While knowing there might be a price.
Thomas Mann was hidden on this day
When staying to fight felt like bad advice.
Some would bravely be true to conviction,
Standing firm as they could against disgrace.
God's voice offered its conscious dictation
For every good German to freely embrace.
It is not subversive to speak one's mind,
Reminding others of what we know to be right.
Writing treatises of freedom might remind
Others in the community to walk in God's light.
Each walks this world with free will.
We must not be crushed into submission.
Instead, some would stand against the baseless thrill
To stand up for the decency of God's holy mission.
Where wrong is being done, they will speak.
Standing up to fight for the change and bring an end.
There is a consequence in being strong or weak,
Choosing to lock together arms, friend to friend.
Quietly, they chose to stand, shoulder to shoulder,
Passing God's message on from one to another.
To a man, they stood up against Hitler a little bolder,
Knowing that Christians or Jews, we are all brothers.
(c) December 19, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Banned Music, Brave Fools, Civilization's Grave, Conformity, Darkness, Fight, Follow, Fuhrer, God's Way, Harshness, Nazism, Nihilism, Poetry and Poems, Price, Resistance, Rote Form, Rule, Shadow, Shortwave, Stand up, Thomas Mann, Times, Vanity, Woship
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: Never Be Afraid To Raise Your Voice For Honesty and Truth and Compassion Injustice and Lying and Greed…It Would Change the Earth
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” – William Faulkner
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Afraid, Change, Compassion, Earth, Greed, Honesty, Injustice, Lyring, People, Raise, Thought For the Day, Truth, Voice, William Faulkner, World
Leave a comment
First Principles: My Concern Is Not Whether God Is On Our Side; My Greatest Concern Is To Be On God’s Side. For God Is Always Right
“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” – Abraham Lincoln
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Concern, First Principles, Go, God's Side, Our Side, Right
Leave a comment
What Is To Be Will Be
What Is To Be Will Be
by Michael Doyle
As the day of celebration approaches,
My thoughts turn to the prayer that encroaches
On every other day and on all my ways.
It is as important as Christmas Day.
The Lord's Prayer is, itself, a revolution.
It teaches our path of spiritual evolution.
I ponder on each line as a separate teaching,
And I pray for all the souls that it is reaching.
The heart of Jesus's mission is the Sermon on the Mount.
If you pay due attention, it reveals what it's about.
Each line is a phrase that is not overly demanding.
If you pour your heart into it, there is understanding.
Walking with aspirations of right attitude,
The believer approaches the rise of the Beatitudes.
Long ago, on this hillside, Jesus began to teach
Seven lessons in one, in the hope that they might reach
The jagged hearts of a crowd of willing believers,
Hoping they might embrace and become conceivers
That our holy Father offers this family freedom
As He invites each of us to belong to His Kingdom.
In Egypt, the Israelites lived in slavery and dread,
And still, hard as it was, they multiplied and spread.
The Nile River's bondage oppressed in its narrow place.
God heard their cries and, as a father, opened His embrace.
The Sinai unraveled Moses' part of this holy story.
A burning bush spoke the truth of God's eternal glory.
Staring into the flickers of the sacred flame,
Whatever will be will be was revealed as God's name.
The focus shouldn't be on a label, but what God can do.
A label is temporary; what unfolds is what is true.
Redeemer, Father, rescuer - wrapped into one.
This is how the Lord's Prayer is begun...
(c) December 18, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Approach, Aspration, Attention, Beatitudes, Beleiver, Burning Bush, Celebation, Christmas Day, Day, Dread, Egypt, Embrace, Encroach, Family, Father, Focus, Freedom, God, God's Name, Heart, Hillside, Holy Father, Israelites, Jagged Hearts, Jesus, Kingdom, Label, Line, Moses, Narrow Place, Nile, Path, Phrase, Poetry and Poems, Poner, Pray, Prayer, Reach, Redeemer, Rescuer, Revolution, Right Attitude, Sacred Flame, Sermon on the Mount, Sinai, Slavery, Souls, Spiritual Evolution, Teaching, The Lord's Prayer, Thought, To BE, Unerstanding, Walk, Ways, What Is
Leave a comment
First Principles: Behold the Lamb of God Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” – John the Baptist
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Behold, First Priciples, God, John the Baptist, Lamb, Sin, Worl
Leave a comment
Thought For the Day: A Painter’s Got A Canvas. The Writer’s Got Reams of Empty Paper. A Musician Has Silence
“A painter’s got a canvas. The writer’s got reams of empty paper. A musician has silence.” – Keith Richards
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Canvas, Empty Paper, Keith Richards, Musician, Paiinter, Ream, Silence, Thought For the Day, Writer
Leave a comment
Dancing Shoes
Dancing Shoes
by Michael Doyle
Christmas brings back faded memories,
Mostly of how we love our family.
The thing is that most of mine are dead,
And still there is what needs to be said.
I gather myself by the gravestone,
Self-aware that I'm on my own.
Thinking on how much of my life consists of smiles,
In between birth and now, I've logged a lot of miles.
Along the way, I have seen quite a lot,
So many tiny miracles that aren't forgot,
Like my oldest daughter turning to me at the ultrasound,
And the places her sister, her, and I have found.
We often hit the open road to explore,
Sometimes playing cows without keeping score.
Everyone's a winner when you play for love,
Keeping this in mind, with God looking down from above.
Life plays out as it does without any alibis.
When you live by truth, there is no need for lies.
But it's funny how life slips on by,
And before you know it, you've given your best try.
Life hits us with the recompense of our capability.
Doing its best to teach us a lesson in responsibility,
And maybe along the way, we find our pleasures,
All the things we have kept in our fullest measure.
I remember my ballerinas as they learned to dance,
Starry eyes and dreaming of princes and romance.
It felt like just another miracle along the way.
I will always treasure their younger days.
Raising children often involves little white lies.
They are often the cure for ailments like butterflies.
We'd take in the beauty of all that we had seen,
I often said silent prayers for my two beautiful human beings.
This Christmas feels just a little bit lonely.
I know a little girl all grown up, and I wish she'd phone me.
I sit here looking at a pair of old dancing shoes,
And realize this is just another part of paying life's dues.
(c) December 17, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Alibis, Ballerinas, Christmas, Cows, Dancing Shoes, Explore, Fade Memories, Family, Gravestone, Life, Love, Miles, My Life, Open Road, Poetry and Poems, Self-Aware, Slips By, Smiles, Tiny Miracles, Truth, Ultrasound, Writing
Leave a comment
First Principles: Conceiving God To Be the Fountain of Wisdom, I Found It Right and Necessary To Solicit His Assistance For Obtaining It
“Conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it.” – Benjamin Franklin
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 