Thursday, December 29, 2011

Salutation #80

I saw a vision of two worlds -
two paths leading away from each other...
two choices - with nothing - in between;
one is a freedom that leads to a future bright,
the other a return to the darkness of the night -
a choice begun in every human heart
a choice to return us again from the start.



(Crystal Blue Sphere)

I SAW IN A VISION,
a crystal blue sphere,
shining with a multitude of living lights.

The vision came to me quite abruptly
while I was awake in the day,
riding a jeep home from work.

The vision stayed for a time before me as I wondered.
I wondered at how wondrous and beautiful beyond imagination it was
that I thought I was seeing through the eyes of angels.

Then a darkness came over the vision
and it seemed to me for an instant that it was no longer there.

- selah -

But it was, O my nation,
before me was a world so overrun by sin and war
that it was no longer distinct from the nothingness of the void -
an unknown earth bereft of light,
forsook by heaven,
and forgot by God.
---<--@

My New Year 2012 hope -


I pray for more leaders who are accountable to God first that the LORD may craft them into proper instruments of a government wholly dedicated and responsible to the people they serve.

Leaders who at every level of government embody the definition of a popular mandate being interested in neither fame nor notoriety but in establishing in our nation through their persons the divine authority that makes us all equal before the LORD both in dignity and in promise.

Loyal leadership like these may only arise from a nation faithful to its own truth, arrayed in time as an undertaking of Country at one with its own mission and at peace with its own vision.

Therefore, I pray - first and foremost - for our nation: May we now become what we've always dreamed of becoming... mabuhay!

This is my new year hope. God bless the Philippines!
---<--@

Monday, December 26, 2011

Salutation #79

The freedom of Man
and the freedom of Angels
are not unlike each other!

Therefore,
Let us always remember that the liberty
of all the nations of the children of Mankind
is established not for the taking but for the giving -
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in giving that all Men are set free.

- selah -


(Religion in the Public Domain)

Don't be a hypocrite.

Don't be afraid to say it - "Merry Christmas!"

How can we respect other religions if we can not respect our own?

Remember,
a genuine respect for the power of faith - in any person -
only comes from a genuine experience of religion.

So if you are afraid to practice your own - for any reason,
how can you hope to understand
what substance of truth there is to be had
in the exercise of your own faith?

If you do not understand
- with a knowledge of the truth -
the blessings bestowed upon you by your own religion,
how can you understand the hope
that other people must invest
in the free exercise of theirs
however different they may be to you?

There is a place for religion in the public domain -
for so long as (1) it does compete,
one against the other - to the confusion of many,
for a position of dominance in the civic sphere;
for so long as (2) the Spirit of God is given a free hand
to work the work of completion He intends in all human hearts ;
for so long as (3) the spirit of War is denied entry into the heart of our nations;
for it shall be natural for all truth to come together -
not so that all things may be the same - conformity without diversity,
but so that the purpose of God in all things may be fulfilled.

Merry Christmas!
---<--@

Can you see through the cartoon -


If you love humanity, say to thy own soul:

Drink deeply, O my heart, we have much to do...
---<--@

Think about it -

"People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things." (Anne Frank, July 6, 1944)

Take note of how my Anne described the activity of faith in religion - a gift.
---<--@

Shalom, Salaam, Peace - Maligayang Pasko!
Mabuhay po tayong lahat ngayong Pasko at kapayapaan sa darating na taon.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Queen Esther's Prayer

Of the two important Jewish Holy Days I tend to personally identify with, this prayer forms the spiritual basis for the first one, Purim.

The other feast is Hannukah of whose main protagonist is Judah Maccabee (of the Book of Maccabees).

Both these feasts celebrate (in eternal remembrance) for all of Israel (i.e. from everywhere and from everytime) the deliverance (wrought by the LORD through His instruments) of the Jewish people as a nation from a particular form of evil that threatened to permanently and irreversibly disrupt God's own relationship with the present generations of that time.

- selah -


Queen Ester's Prayer

Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, likewise had recourse to the LORD.

Taking off her splendid garments, she put on garments of distress and mourning. In place of her precious ointments she covered her head with dirt and ashes. She afflicted her body severely; all her festive adornments were put aside, and her hair was wholly disheveled.

Then she prayed to the LORD, the God of Israel, saying:

"My LORD, our King, you alone are God.

Help me, who am alone and have no help but You, for I am taking my life in my hand.

As a child I was wont to hear from the people of the land of my forefathers that You, O LORD, chose Israel from among all peoples, and our fathers from among all their ancestors, as a lasting heritage, and that you fulfilled all your promises to them.

But now we have sinned in Your sight, and You have delivered us into the hands of our enemies, because we worshiped their gods. You are just, O LORD.

But now they are not satisfied with our bitter servitude, but have undertaken to do away with the decree You have pronounced, and to destroy Your heritage; to close the mouths of those who praise You, and to extinguish the glory of Your temple and Your altar; to open the mouths of the heathen to acclaim their false gods, and to extol an earthly king forever.

O LORD, do not relinquish Your scepter to those that are nought. Let them not gloat over our ruin, but turn their own counsel against them and make an example of our chief enemy.

Be mindful of us, O LORD. Manifest Yourself in the time of our distress and give me courage, King of gods and Ruler of every power.

Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy, so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.

Save us by Your power, and help me, who am alone and have no one but You, O LORD. You know all things."

(Esther C: 12-25)

I simply love Queen Esther. She is one of my all-time favorite heroines of the Old Testament!

We could indeed take a page from the memory of Israel through the Book of Esther to help guide us through these difficult times.

Glorified be God in all His Angels and in all His Saints - forever!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Salutation #78

Typhoon Sendong is portentous.

It was not only out of season -
it is an indication of a much larger change.


No words can convey my distress at the loss we have sustained
at the passing of this most recent typhoon...

These are ours, O my Philippines, these are ours...


Arise therefore, O my nation - serve -
and pray for the victims of Typhoon Sendong!


(Hidden in Plain Sight)

Each year,
my fellow Filipinos,
our Country is tested
and the endurance of our nation
stectched to a point...

We are -
by the natural cycles of the seasons
and the excesses that the forces of nature
- earth, wind, fire, and water -
a nation yearly inflicted
with much violence
upon our communities
by the evils that arise from
these natural calamities.

But never have we thought,
O my beloved people,
never have we even begun to consider,
the slightest hint of surrender
to the limiting and random nature
of these evils!

Rather,
these typhoons
only serve to strengthen
our resolve
- no matter the pain -
to stand together
as one people.

For in the midst of these trials
we always choose to be the victors
and we always have.

Do you understand this?

We are -
a people whose virtues
have always been - as such -
hidden in plain sight.

So let us bear
- into mind and heart -
the strength and reality of
our own native resilience
as well as bring into the fore
of our social consciousness
- these present days -
the excellence of the virtues
embodied by our national identity
which are all the things that make living
the Filipino Dream worthwhile
as well as possible.

For the greater cycle of the seasons
is shifting -

These shall be times
- unprecedented -
in the history of all the nations
of the children of Mankind.

Winter indeed in coming
(after the autumnal dusk of our faded Eden)
- here in this season of shadows -
and there is a testing ahead
that shall require all our virtue
(as individuals giving freely
and as nations dreaming together
as one family).

Therefore,
let us always have meaningful recourse
to the sacred remembrances
of God and of Country.

- selah -

Our unity as a people
shall be our greatest guarantee against calamity.

Our peace as a nation
shall be our safest shelter against the darkness.

Our vision as a Country
shall be our surest way ahead
out of this long night - this longest night -
and into that new morning of Promise
for our Land of Promise.

2011 have revealed to us our weaknesses.
2012 shall temper for us our strengths.
---<--@

Let us help our brothers and sisters in Northern Mindanao -


Contact -
Tel. (632) 931 - 8101 to 07

Click -


http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Salutation #77

Let our Banner be unto thyself a symbol of unity, my people,
and let it fly in thy heart out of love of God and Country.

Yea, let this Banner fly in thy heart of hearts or not at all!

For if this one kind of love is absent in the absent heart of Man,
there shall our Country be found nowhere in creation.



(Old Defiant vs. Old Compliant)

Peace, I salute you.

I should like to emphasize in us again,
my brothers and sisters of the Promise,
the importance of unity over division -
especially in the midst of this brewing crisis
between our President and our Chief Justice.

Remember,
I am not writing here
about the impeachment trial
- or any external event that must also concern us -
I am writing primarily about you (about us) -

For everything that proceeds in our Republic,
proceeds from the concentrated strength of its spirit
in your soul (our souls).

As regards the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona
and the divisions it is sparking in our nation,
if you are in any way interested
in what I have to think about the matter - personally,
please refer to the running commentary
I have opened here.

However,
if you are still sincerely confused about the matter,
you may inhibit yourselves from participating in the public debate
and remain in the safety of your own areas of service.

It is never fair to have to be made to choose
between two co-equal, independent branches
of our one Republic government
in the Responsible State.

Again,
our central focus here
is to make this an exercise in unity
so do not allow your own mind and heart
to become bitterly embroiled in the politics
and the divisions that must surround this event
- without having a clear mind -
as to where your freedom and your independence truly lies.

Completely refrain from adding your own flame
to the many conflagrations that threaten to consume our Country
but rather add it to the unifying light that gives her comfort and warmth,
bolstering her strength to see us all through this long night;
this longest night...

- selah -


(I am reposting this piece from 20110402.)

Something's missing from my Philippines. Something vital.

Who knows her?

These days, everybody seems to be living for themselves alone. It seems no one remembers her.

By this, she is grieved and therefore, draws further and further away into isolation.

For the spirit of Country, my honorable compatriots, is a spirit of self-belonging. It is a self-cognizant, collective sense of self.

And the Republic is a guardian to a people orphaned by war.

Thus, if the people are divided in their hearts against each other, they are scattered.

And the people are scattered because of those distant and faded hearts; hearts that seem to no longer recognize the spirit of this Republic; hearts that have come to accept the rule of War.

Hence, the spirit of Country is diluted.

And when there is no substance left in our remembrance, when there is no peace left to abide in our belonging, when there is no truth left to empower our will of Country, we shall cease to exist as a nation.

But while our history still fills the hunger in our souls, while there is yet a common longing for better days burning in our hearts, while there is yet those who remember and believe, while there is yet even a few who are brave and true, by the grace of Almighty God, war will never have us.

Truly, my nation, this is not a very good time for the spirit of war. For this is exactly why the colors of our own Country is called Old Defiant.


We have a choice. Let it mean something:

Let us defy division, let us defy corruption, let us defy poverty, let us defy evil and prosper, my fellow Filipino compatriots - together this time.

Let us defend where we must, O my nation Philippines, and leave all else to the invulnerable, omnipotent defense of the LORD, our God, the one Sovereign of all nations.
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

The Truth

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

New Archbishop of Manila

Mabuhay, Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle - God bless the Philippines!





Saint Andrew's School Hymn


Beloved Saint Andrew's
the knowledge we obtain
from the Lord God Above
through thy guidance and love.

You inspire our will
to reach our golden goal:
Love God and Country
Proudly we proclaim!

Refrain:

Hail Saint Andrew's -
Endless fountain of wisdom!
We do pledge a life of serving love.

The bright and shining Morning
comes in our lives,
we the Andreans give respect
to Thy enlightening command -

We shall cherish You
from here and afar
with You the darkest road
we'll walk unafraid.

Composer: Mr. Francis Dandan
---<--@

Anne's Window

The love that endures is the love that remains...


My darlingest
Annelies Marie
looked out
with eyes longing for peace
from her little attic window
and saw the tyranny of war
and the suffocating
oppression
of War's ambition.

She looked out
at the looming evil
of the devouring darkness
that was marching relentlessly
across her troubled world
and like stars
looking out
of themselves
saw through
the enveloping darkness
that threatened her life
and her times
shedding her precious starlight
into our hearts.

My darlingest
believed so much
in our shared humanity
and in the
nobility
of the human being
not because
the Nazi's were consumed
by War's ambition
and her times were evil
but because her heart
was noble.

For my darlingest
Annelies Marie
loved life
and believed
in the intrinsic goodness
of all things
created by God,
seen and unseen,
and that despite
the great evil
of her times,
human hearts
were good.

War looked back at her
and saw nothing.

For God took her
and hid her
into His bosom
unto a place
upon the firmament
within Himself
long before evil saw
the secret starlight
of her undying hope
bursting from
windows within
her heart of hearts.

War looked back at her
and saw nothing
for there is no hope
in war
only death
and the darkness
of death.

War looked back at her
and saw nothing
for in the darkness
of war and sin
is also found
the crushing gravity
of it's own demise.

But goodness looked back at her
and saw
through her little attic window
her starlight smile.

And smiled back...
---<--@


"I want friends, not admirers. People who respect me for my character and my deeds, not my flattering smile. The circle around me would be much smaller, but what does that matter, as long as they're sincere?"

- Anne Frank, March 7, 1944


Monday, December 12, 2011

Pinoy Spirit

Disown the darkness.
Defend against it.

Do not fight it.
Defend.



In this place, everywhere;
in this time, forever -
we belong.

One nation united across all our generations

Juan Nation

The Filipino is a kind of love and this love binds us together as Juan Nation.


All is Juan -
I am the Juan,
You are the Juan,
We are the Juan;
Juan Nation.

Salutation #76

You might say, my dear Filipino soul, that that embattled region of our Asia, the Middle East, is not our concern - not our concern at all.

Ah, but it is!

Believe me when I say it, the fate of many nations depend on it.

- selah -

Here is a map of the region: Where are the divisions here?


My beloved brothers and sisters of the Promise,
hear me when I say -

The lines on a map are artificial
- insofar as we understand -
that these are not meant to scatter the hearts of our nations
nor divide and dilute the concentrated spirit of our common humanity
but to facilitate the temporal labor of our nations (as Countries upon our world)
that we may better bring continually forth and preserve
a wholesome and healthy sense of meaningful purpose to our world
sustaining an order built upon a just and abiding peace
among all peoples of the earth
according to the needs of every present time.

Now,
these lines become permanent divisions
that lay its dark siege against the life of our nations
insofar as the peoples of Mankind forget that
- Unity is Eternal -
and the hearts of the children of Mankind
freely and willingly permit
the War in heaven a place on earth.


Salutation #76

(The one Cause of Palestine)

Palestine is divided,
the sky above the heart of Asia
lay shattered only because we accept it.

Say thee with me,
I for one do not accept it!

Neither do I accept the manifold evils
that embattle her peoples, making them suffer,
in spirit as well as in temporality.

For my vision of the region
and every undertaking of Country that must animate all these favored lands
is not one of division but of unity.

So peace be with you!

Unity is Eternal.

Let this be your vision as well.

- selah -

To the nations -
When art thou going to stop
feeding the insatiable division that is slowly
killing the needful cause of the peace of Modern Israel
and therefore, making permanent the darkness engulfing
all the suffering peoples of that choice and blessed region of Palestine?

To all you with hearts to listen,
all my brothers and sisters of the Promise -

The "Palestinians" stand for a cause
for which all nations are in spirit purposed on earth
by the God of all heaven and earth.

If they were not
- in the eyes of many -
one people united in heart before,
all of this present turmoil, tragedy and grief
has certainly bound them together
as one nation now.

This is a truth that by any other name remains the truth.

Therefore,
if you shall say the "Palestinians" are an invented people,
then you might be implying that the cause for which they are united
is a fabricated cause.

And if you shall say that the Palestinian Cause is a fabricated cause,
this might indicate that you are unable to grasp the long view of the region.

And if you allow yourself to freely believe this,
for whatever reason, conscious or unconscious, you may allow;
if you fail to consider the realities on the ground,
you support neither Israel or Palestine.

Say thee with me,
I will never stand for nor tolerate terrorism
nor shall I ever desire the destruction of any nation
above all Israel whom one should love dearly
and to whom one should speak the truth.

Truly,
if we are not careful, O my nations,
if we continue to allow for the deception of War
to sow its scattering in each our hearts;
if we permit the beast of War
even a toehold in our souls,
we all shall fail.

- selah -

I have always maintained - to each of you -
that the Middle East is where the siege of War shall be broken;
that it is here where the darkness of the last great age of war shall be lifted,
however, I have also always carefully reminded each of you that this is a choice
and that we must make this choice today while it is still today.

For our unity is an integral part of our liberty as nations
- human nations, O human Man,
nations dreaming together this time.

Therefore,
my brothers and sisters of the Promise,
let this be the prayer in our heart -

Let there be peace across all of Palestine;
a peace to calm the storm at the heart of our Asia!

Let there be peace across all of Palestine -
for the sake of all the nations of our needful world,
including our beloved Philippines.

Above all,
let there be peace across all of Palestine
- a constant reign of truth -
for the sake of those long-suffering peoples
descended from the lineages of
both Isaac and Ishmael
(both of which are beloved of God as we are beloved of God)
and the nations God had intended for their safety and progress
for the honor of the LORD,
the glory of the unity of God,
and the salvation of many.
---<--@

Monday, December 5, 2011

Salutation #75

A Nation at peace with its own truth is a Country at one with its own heart.


(The Pursuit of Happiness)

Happiness is not a freedom to do anything.

Happiness is the ability
to consistently do the right thing
in spite of everything.

Therefore,
a happy person is a person
in possession of his or her own freedom.

One who obtains happiness
by striving to live a life
that is truly free.

- selah (pause for thought) -

Now,
a lot of people look for peace
for all peoples have an idea of what happiness is
but only a few know where to begin.

No one can tell you what the truth for you is like
but you can listen to others
to find out where to begin looking
for thy own truth.

For your peace is your own.
But your peace is never meant
to only be yours.

For you are like a star - that -
once aflame must reach out to shine
for other stars across time and distance
- against the Night.

Truly,
the individual is important.
But this importance must exist
within a community that values it.
This is our liberty.

- selah -

Once you are in possession
of the truth in your own heart
- O Beloved of the LORD -
it may only be taken away
by your lack of vigilance.

For no one can dictate to you
what you must will to cherish forever
- in the city within thy own heart -
within those worlds within thyself.

Heaven and earth may only give thee
good counsel and due caution.

So be careful of the false images
that are specifically intended
for the ruin of your dreams
and the overthrow of thy own peace.

For once you are in possession
of thy peace in thy own heart,
it may only be uprooted
(and may God forbid it)
by your freely giving it away.
---<--@

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Salutation #74

The one music in you is the one music in me.



(The Filipino Dream)

Know the (Filipino) Dream, see the (Republic) Vision.

- selah -

There is a dream in myself which is for myself.
There is a dream in yourself which is for yourself.

But the dream in all ourselves
- must exist -
within a greater dreaming.

This is our national dreaming,
which from the time our nation was conceived
- in the Mind of God -
till the moment our nation is once again received
- into the Heart of God -
constitutes one whole dream.

This dream is the Filipino Dream.

And everyday we wake up
with the love of our nation in our heart
is everyday we add to the splendor
of its eventual awakening.
For every day we improve our lives
and the lives of our Countrymen and women
is every day we realize its Promise
in each ourselves - for all of us -
together this time.

Because the Dream which is ours
is one continuous dreaming
and each of us contribute
toward its completion
in each ourselves.

It may only reach its fulfillment
when the national destiny is reached
by the last of our generations.

When our Country is perfected
by the God of all Countries.

No one can truly define
- the Filipino Dream -
but the Filipino.
And each of us contribute
toward its completion in ourselves.

Now,
our national dreaming,
my brothers and sisters of the Promise,
is NOT a material dream.

And of this truth
we should be especially vigilant:
For the happiness we desire
- as individuals and as a nation -
is not a thing of the earth
but a happiness in the spirit.
---<--@