Salutation #141

There were two worlds

presented to me in a vision -

One was ordered, blessed, and free
- shining with a myriad living lights -
and the other was dark, empty, and forgotten;
indistinct from the void of all things that never were.

These worlds are not ruled by two gods
but presented to us by one God alone
as a choice to the human heart
and a path for our nations.

refer to Crystal Blue Sphere 
---<--@


(The Two Clocks)

The will of War
and the will of Peace
can be likened to two clocks.

Either one - and only one -
of these two clocks may exist
at the heart of a nation at any given time -
right at the very head waters.

Each clock dictates
the general inclination of the people
and works to synchronize the vital movements
of each our will of Country.

One clock inescapably leads
to a time of death and desolation
and the other to a time of life and abundance.

We move forward
only by the weight of the burdens
we must bear with each other as a nation
and this burden is the burden of Justice.

It is a burden that grows
- ever the heavier -
under the suffocating crush of War
and ever the lighter under
the sheltering wings of Peace.

When we follow
or are led to follow
the clock of War,
the clock of War moves forward
as the clock of Peace is stopped.

When we follow
or are led to follow
the clock of Peace,
the clock of Peace moves forward
as the clock of War is stopped.

When we allow
the will of War to steal away
the lives and the promise
of each our fellow Filipino compatriots,
the clock of War is hastened.

When we allow
the will of Peace to work to fulfill
the lives and the promise
of each our fellow Filipino compatriots,
the clock of Peace is hastened.

Either clock leads - all the way -
to the higher purposes of God for all creation
unto the LORD's ultimate will of completion
for all things, seen and unseen.

But the choice is always ours
which one to follow.

For we can only follow one.

- selah -

One may only imagine what clock
our world has been taking its time* from
by the name we have learned to call it by -

"The Doomsday Clock"

(*time here determines direction in the national will -

in essence it is what rules over the heart of the people
being either an inclination or disinclination to the truth

and determines the disposition of the spirit of any nation)

---<--@

(original produced 20110517)

Salutation #140

Equality is an environment

where individuals who are not alike (in our distinct persons)
become equally empowered (under God) to find their own happiness
as well as enabled to freely support (through Country) others in that same pursuit.
---<--@

(Define Equality)

Equality is a quality of Justice;

the fullness of every life's goodness
made present in all - for all.

Equality is the perfection of Law;
the completion of the labor of nations
made manifest in all - for all.

It is not a form of slavery
to a blind and mindless conformity;
the ancient curse of modernity!

Nor a vainglorious submission
to the fickle fashions of the times
that soon wash away with the darkness
ever as fleeting as the world!

Equality is
the boon of peace!

And therefore,
a social virtue born of good will -
the undoing of all false impressions,
mischievous hatreds, and maliciousness.

It is the medium of every human respect
and the foundation of our every labor
of awakening the timeless dream
that slumbers from within
every Man - for every Man
born of freedom and love of the same
not make every person a copy of the other
but to allow us all in our common communities
to be uniquely and supremely happy

   (across our kindred nations,
   across our common generations)
in the realization in the self that indeed -
freedom is not happiness,
happiness is freedom.

This is a Just Equality.
---<--@

Old Defiant says -

If
Luzon + Visayas + Mindanao = one Republic

Then,
Luzon = Visayas = Mindanao = one Nation

For
Star + Star + Star = Sun (synergy)

And
Star = Star = Star = Sun (luminosity)
---<--@


No Unity without Diversity

Salutation #139

(Helping Hands)

My brother and sister Filipinos -

A nation who
has no remembrance of its own past
is like a man who
have lost the use of his legs.

A nation who
has no love of its own present
is like a man who
have lost the use of his heart.

A nation who
has no vision of its own future
is like a man who
have lost the use of his mind.

If we are this nation, 
what for are our hands?

What for are our hands, my people?

- selah -

What for the memory but the light?
What for the light but the life?
What for the life but the hope?
What for the hope but the love?
What for the love but the labor?
What for the labor but the peace?
What for the peace but the LORD?

And what for the LORD, our King,
but the victory of all these good things,
alleluia to God on high, my people! 

What for our independence if not our freedom?
What for our freedom if not our peace?
What for our peace if not each other?

What for are our hands, my people?

- selah -

Who has given us our nationhood but God?

Alleluia to God on high, my people!

Did any of us choose to be born with such a soul?

Who can take this spirit in our hearts away?

Alas! Only we, my people, you or I -
by our unremembrance, by our impenitence,
by our unpeaceful, and false ways.

So let us, as the stars,
in this time before the dawn,
awaken Now.
---<--@

View in Review 20120623

We're half-way through 2012!



I think we're doing splendidly, my brother and sister Filipinos.

You must ask yourselves today, have the first part of this year of years made us stronger together, even slightly stronger, than the days before?

And you must ask this bearing into mind and heart the reality of our nationhood, who we are, as well as the present guardianship of our Republic replete with her memory and institutions, what we stand for, even as you reflect on where time itself has taken our freedoms today.

I personally think we have become stronger for our coming together.

For our liberty as one nation is bound by the strength of our freedoms together.

This liberty is our Republic pursuit, the fullest extent of which is happiness for all our citizens - in this world (of trial and probation) and if we are wise, in that promised world that is to come forever.

Let us remember to stay focused for the rest of this year of years bearing into mind that - yes indeed!

Little things matter, invisible things matter, for these are the essential things.



I recently saw a documentary about the prophesies related to 2012. 

These would have proved disturbing to me have I not learned to anchor my heart upon the prevailing spirit of the times which the LORD has ordained specifically to bring these events into order and perspective that we may each have a choice away and apart from all the confusion.

We have a prophesy of our own we can lean upon... (refer to Daniel 12).

So that if things do get difficult and confusing, we know with the understanding of faith and conviction of heart to all the more place ourselves in the responsible and human service of each other as a nation among nations - under and before - God, our King.

Bear always into mind and heart also, my compatriots, that ye may have a good measure of the horizons of our hope spread in their arcs across time, we have the year 2046 as our intended destination.



For it shall take two generations -
two generations to sow, nurture, and establish
the necessary changes in our Country
and allow for it to take root in the soil of our land,
two generations to work out the labor of peace
that will restore our Republic to herself
blessing all those who patiently wait
for the blessing of the LORD.

So let us give each other a little more love each day -
loving our own and loving others like our own.

Let us be understanding of our weaknesses,
considerate of our brokenness,
accommodating of our own common human needs,
unyielding in our determination to see this undertaking of Country
we call the one Republic of the Philippines through this longest night
and into the new morning of that promised day...

After all, are we not the Land of Promise, 
my brothers and sisters of the Promise?

Remember,
our democracy is to be nurtured like a tree,
its fruits are virtues eternal, and golden like the stars -
our Country which is our labor is to be honored with fidelity
and our nation which is our community cared for with kindness and love,
for these are the blessings of our peace and defended with vigilance and sacrifice.

Is this not the truth?

We are a free nation

because we have rightly chosen

(in the course of our history in time)

in our hearts and across our generations

to be guided and ruled by authentic human freedoms

where each our free and human choices

no longer become one governed by chance,

but by each individual strength of will

and the power of God's own grace;

freedom giving its life to freedom,

liberty shedding its light for all.

Sometimes these days,

and these days are becoming more frequent again

when I reflect on our population issue -

I think about

the prevalence in our collective thought

(as a free nation among the nations upon the earth)

either of (1) randomness (fatalism, or the "bahala na" habit)

(which in a free nation is a moral evil)

or of (2) free and human choice (relativism, amoralism)

(which is evil BUT ONLY if it is left to chance

for freedom that is irresponsible is anathema to itself).

Now,

of these two evils,

the question we must gauge is

which is presently the greater evil 

and so the one we must subdue;

between the one answer and the other -

a proper formation of a moral conscience 

is the arbiter.

   

One can not forsee

all ends in the RH bill debate,

and as a devout Roman Catholic,

I am anguished by its many nuances

BUT notwithstanding our action or inaction 

we are left to deal here with a clear and present evil

which is poverty and the increasing means and degrees

to which individuals and families within our own population,

have become helplessly subject to its many afflictions.

Indeed 

poverty has now become 

a social justice issue in this Republic

where failure to act decisively is consequently

a failure in the prevailing morality of our culture.

   I would even go as far as 

   to consider poverty as a national security issue

   for I am of the growing conviction that 

   poverty in our Country is becoming life-threatening

   to this Republic.

Admittedly, 

there are many facets to this issue

but in the context of the RH Bill debate 

adequate and effective population management

which is a primary responsibility of individual family units

within the peace of a democratic society such as ours

when it is left irresponsibly managed by our common failures

as a Republic whole to redeem our prevailing culture 

from the evil of randomness and chance - will and does - 

become a burden to our nation as a whole

and this burden when it becomes debilitating 

needs the swift action of our Justice and our Law.

What we do about it matters.

What we don't do about it matters even more.

A little mental exercise #1

If tomorrow it is declared, without a shred of a doubt,

that there are absolutely no petrochemical deposits

lying in the bottom of the West Philippine Sea,

I wonder how this will affect the region?

Will it soften the self-destructive stances of the politics of conflict?

Will it serve to alleviate the military tension in our common sea?

Will it add to the peace of our neighborhood and therefore, lead to a further strengthening of our futures together?

What if there really is no economic value?

What then are we really fighting for?

What for are we committing the lives of our most faithful sons and daughters...

...the desolation?

A little mental exercise #2

There is a dispute on Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal).

And this dispute involves two sovereign undertakings of Country -

the RPH and the PRC.

Do we recognize there is a dispute?

Do the two parties recognize there are two parties in this issue?

Do the two parties recognize each other?

Do the two parties who recognize each other recognize there is a respective claim of sovereignty over the area?

Have any of them already made up their mind to deny it?

Unless these questions are answered meaningfully with due regard for the greater good of the region, of Asia, and of our world - this division will remain unchallenged and unhealed; a neglected space in time wherein the contagion of War may fester and spread.

Peace may only be built on agreements.

- selah -

If the PRC insists on a bilateral remedy to the dispute without even considering the equality of our claims of sovereignty over the area, what it really is implying is a peace enforced by force of arms.

We may not win this fight in the short term but this shall prove ruinous for a power like Beijing in the longer term view of things where the value of any civilization is actually invested in time. 

It shall be to the mutual interests of both our Countries to pursue, if not through the ITLOS, a regional solution worked out with an independent regional or multinational tribunal (probably the ASEAN+China or other recognized body) bearing into mind the vital significance of the longer view of things, especially in this new age of spirit and thought, and the larger good of our Asia (and remembering the number for peace is 3). 

The truth is we can not live without the PRC and the PRC can not live without us either: We can not change the geography of our region, the currents of our common markets will lead and evolve into each other, nor the connected nature of our cultures, they shall always share an affinity wrought in spirit and blood - we may have these passionate disagreements today but all indications are we shall have to make this peace work.

And the sooner we can work this out the better.
---<--@

If we find ourselves,
despite everything and in spite of all,

still dead-locked on Panatag Shoal

and in the Spratlys,

let no bad news be good news,

let no (military) action be good action -

BUT always, 

we should be mindful

of our building together from within,

we should always be mindful

of the real labor of our nationhood,

and all these things shall turn out

for the good of the nation

that is faithful to its own truth

and to the one LORD of all truth.

For in the meantime, 
we shall build.
---<--@

Between War and Peace is indecision and this is the worst choice of them all.

"so because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." 

- Revelation 3:16

Salutation #138

No peace without adversity!
No peace is obtained through weakness.
Durable peace only comes through strength.



For as gold is purified in the fire of the Refiner,
a peace that is precious is a peace that is tried;
a peace tempered by its own will of truth,
a peace that is meaningful to all -
this is a durable peace.

It is always a gift -
a thing we must receive.
---<--@



(No Peace without Adversity)

No peace without adversity -
in human terms, no virtue without vice -
in spiritual terms, no repentance without sin -
no contrasting light without the darkness;
no serenity without suffering.

No peace without adversity,
in terms of the nations (of the children) of Mankind -

A peace established from within
where cooperation and consensus take root
upon the very soul of every Country
drawing its power from the essential spirit of the nation,
expansive in its liberty, exhaustive in its understanding of all things,
evolving into works that eliminate undue fear, inordinate want,
and the slavery of all these diverse forms of oppression
growing stronger in good will and human community
one with the other, as trees in the orchard of the LORD,
as stars ordered according to each their times,
arrayed according to their constellations,
rising in their great galactic gatherings,
bursting forth against War, darkness and division
bearing edible, sweet, timeless fruit
shedding their everlasting light -
for the glory of the God
of all Mankind.

It is not the peace built from fear and force
which is that "peace" established from without
'tis like a prison - deceptive and constricting -
enslaving the spirits of nations entire
and corrupting each their own soul of Country -
adulterous, inhuman, and distrustful -
a peace built from sheer limits;
one which can never last.

   One may only imagine
   from a perspective of two thousand years
   where a false peace may lead us.

Therefore,
no peace without adversity!

- selah -



My brothers and sisters of the Promise,

great may these present divisions be
but greater still is our desire and our recourse
to an understanding of God and ourselves,

we must continue on our course -

unto the stars, unto destiny.
---<--@

Of Virtue and Vice

Salutation #137

so that they may all be one,
as You, Father, are in Me and I in You,
that they also may be in Us,
that the world may believe
that You sent me.

- John 17: 21

---<--@

(Never Again!)

Jesus Christ 
belongs to all peoples,
His Peace unto all nations.

Unto Christians
and non-Christians alike
Jesus Christ is made known
for all human hearts desire Him;
the Savior of all Mankind.

Neither religious prejudice
nor hatred nor War's ambition
will undo the truth of the Gospel;
the Peace of Christ is for all!

Never again War.
Never again division!

- selah -

Strengthening the Nation
means strengthening the peace
and strengthening the peace
means strengthening the Church.

We are not the Church of the past age.
Nor are we the Church of the new age.
We are the Church of every age!

And in this present age,
at the turning of the Celestial Season -
we must as the stars, and with the stars,
shine with the Light of Christ
bearing His Peace unto all nations
and good will unto the ends of the earth.

Lest we forget.
Lest we forget!
---<--@


Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee

Salutation #136

(Change to Master Change)

Things in our world are speeding up again...
If ever you feel confused about the goings on in our world...

You must remember to focus...

You must remember who we are*, my fellow Filipinos...
all we have discovered about ourselves...

   (*So that even without the words
   we shall be the meaning in our nationhood
   and the soul that lives in our Country
   shall sing to our songs!)

You must remember to place
both your attention and your heart
in the service of everything*
that improve the peace of our Country
and strengthen the unity of our peoples
as a nation among nations.

   (*In a million forms, in a million ways, serve -
   loving one another and building up the earth.

   In a million forms, in a million ways, serve -
   dwelling with each other in the Peace of God
   being united (in Spirit) as the LORD is united.

      [As God is one, be thou one heart, one mind -
      going forth and doing what War does not expect!]

   In a million forms, in a million ways, serve -
   upholding the purpose of our coming together
   as one nation among nations sown upon the earth;
   dwelling always in unity, understanding now
   with an understanding of the truth
   the labor set before us and the work purposed
   for the economy of our generations -
   the labor of peace!)

Above all God.

Then we will as a Republic
stand strong against these changes
like the bamboo have evolved to master the storm.

For we will as one nation
shine out against these uncertainties
changing in our hearts to master change.
---<--@

"I am the change to master change."

Friendship Day 2012

In my own universe

with my darling Miyang, 

today is officially Friendship Day.
---<--@

My beloved friends,
may God show unto each our hearts

the beauty of a single living soul
that we may learn to tread the holy ground of life
with a proper sense of reverence
born out of due admiration
for the beauty we all possess
in each ourselves.

May we be awakened
to a zeal for the promise of life
but especially of human life.

May we be awakened
to a love for the Author of all of life
Whose image we are in our being and
Whose likeness we possess in our spirit.

May God fortify our spirits against War,
may His Wisdom strengthen our souls,
and may His Peace shelter our minds.

And may God be merciful in His Justice!

For if we truly knew,
how utterly beautiful all these things are -
if the LORD did vouchsafe for us
of the nations of the children of Mankind
a complete knowledge of what sin and evil
have against our own humanity
viciously wrought -
even in our own midst,
even with our own hands,
hope might appear to each of us
to be even the more fleeting...

if we truly knew what War has done,
it might become impossible for us to live.
---<--@

Salutation #135

When you speak,
thy words set time forth
and imparts motion to all things
so you must be sure of thy speaking.

When you are not speaking,
you observe, you listen, you understand.

So you must be aware only of thy not speaking.

- selah -

Pay diligent heed to thy not speaking
for only in silence shall you know the words.

In the timeless,
when all things within thee are still -
you observe all things around thee in motion.

Tact is when not to speak.
---<--@



(A Rock, A Hard Place, and [Diplomatic] Tact)

It is not Man's nature to wage war,
it is War's nature to wage war.

- selah -

If we bandy about with evil words
- one to another -
and in our nations do the same,
if we are indecent and respect not
the dignity of other individuals,
let alone other nations,
we are indeed sowing the seeds
of new conflicts.

But if we speak
like Men should speak
and not debase our humanity
into the level of brutes,
all men, rational men,
and not evil men who have already
slept in their souls with War,
listen to the sound of reason
and would try to avoid
harming themselves
or others like themselves.

Life - as a whole -
is not inimical to itself.

But sadly, 

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,
we live in an everyday world of contradictions;
of lies, half-truths and malice -
the veritable atmosphere of hell.

We can ill afford
to conform to it
and hope to remain human.
---<--@


...

Independence Day 2012

God bless our Country,
may the LORD forever preserve our Nation
in the freedom of His sons and daughters
and give us Peace.

God bless our President,
may the LORD direct and unify the will of our Executive leadership
toward that Vision He hath vouchsafed for this Nation
from the foundation of the world.

God bless our Congress,
may the LORD form and guide the will of our Legislative houses
that our laws ever remain faithful to their original purpose and intention
as expressed in His Eternity and as written in the hearts of all Mankind
for the safety and progress of our people
through all our generations.

God bless our Judiciary,
may the LORD strengthen and preserve the will of our judges
that they may in each their respective Courts at all times display
the splendor of His Wisdom, Mercy, Forbearance, and Judgment
as a pledge of the final victory of His glorious Beneficence
as it is in heaven here on earth.

May all human dignity be honored and preserved,
may all human promise be recognized and fulfilled,
may all people especially the very least of our brethren and sisters
find their way to lasting happiness in this life and in the next life,
everlasting peace and unimaginable abundance.

AMEN.



May we all have
a deeply meaningful and fulfilling commemoration
of our 114th Independence Day (this 12th of June, 2012).

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas, 

long may our remembrance serve us!

---<--@

Salutation #134

(The Republic!)

If
our Nation is the vessel
through which we strive
to journey in peace together
from hope to hope,
strength to strength,
and truth to truth
across vast oceans of time
from generation to generation
toward a destiny for all
and one worthy of all,
even unto the golden shores
of God and His Eternity;
our one, true Country!

Then
Flag and Anthem
are its wind and sail,
the Constitution its helm,
the President its anchor,
and we, the people,
as citizens to each other,
its faithful crew.

What then
you may ask,
is the name of this
proud and glorious endeavor -
this speedy, sturdy, tall ship?

It is called -
the Republic!
---<--@

Salutation #133

(The Asia of Peace)

It would be naive to think 

that we were the Asia of years ago.

We ARE the Asia of today 

and just as we can be influenced, 

we too have the ability to influence others.

In understanding this, 

let us then just simply be... 

the Asia of Peace.

---<--@

Salutation #132

(Starlight in thy Sight)

Let us not believe 

so easily in the darkness

when it is yet so dark

and so easy to believe

in people saying,

"it is dark!"

There are heroes

among us everywhere, my people.

From all states of life, 

diverse vocations, 

and areas of Republic service,

private as well as public, 

high as well as low,

they walk namelessly with us.

We only have to trust

that we walk among them

- while it is dark -

that we may believe

at approach of morning

that we were right to believe.

Do you understand this?

Evil will try to inspire us

to do good for the sake of its name

and cause us to believe

with the conviction of faith 

that its causes are right and just.

Darkness will by its own power

attempt to inebriate us

even unto our every soul

and in the confusion,

cause us to believe

with the affirmation of hope

that Night is Day.

Let us not believe

so easily in the darkness.

For

darkness that is deep

is madness!

Let us be (the opposite) 

being a people, faithful and fair -

one in heart, at-one in mind;

a Nation, true and true -

spirit-minded, rightly-guided,

vision-inspired, human and just!

---<--@

You may,
as a way of further understanding this Salutation,
also recall into thy mind the One Ring:



The reliquary of the spirit of Sauron,
the power of which is a hidden deception
masked by the golden shine of its grand allure;
an evil inspiration that led to the madness of Saruman,
the betrayal of Orthanc, and ultimately,
the ruin of Isengard.



The power of a myth lies in the reflection of its truth.