Salutation #147

Because time is a flow
and once it has gone out of the timeless

within our hearts, 

once time has flowed out of the Sanctuary of the LORD 

in our every hearts, 

it is no longer time but consequence 

and is near impossible to change. 

(You may refer to the River in Ezekiel 47: 1-12.)

(Nation, Mission, Commission)

My people,
our spirit is strong and virile -
at par with each our kindred nations!

Believe this today with me
and we will build everything else
around this belief -

In you and in me,
there dwells our Country;
'tis a will of peace and of good will
as well as the unity to build up together
from star to star, our one whole sky.

It is the love
that binds us together
in the freedom of human citizenship
and the belonging that holds us together true
in the completeness of our Republic one.

It is that intimated promise
we must hold in our heart of hearts;
the unspoken truth upon which is established
the lineages that leads us back from exile
unto our own Eden rebuilt!

Believe this today with me
and we will build everything else
around this belief -

For in this spirit is realized
the sheltering wings of our nationhood;

the strength to shall carry our generations forth
and the safety to see our vision through to the LORD
across the desolation of war and the darkness of exile time.

Believe this today with me
and we will build everything else
around this belief -

THAT
we are a nation,
one and distinct -

a nation
ordered and purposed
to shelter our common humanity
and to build up the inhabited earth -

a nation
commissioned by the LORD, 
to preserve the dignity and the promise

of all our generations in every generation -

a nation
faithful to our own remembrance
being endowed with justice and freedom
sufficient for the good of every present generation -

a nation
true to our own vision and lineage
and allied to the peace of all the nations
of the earth under heaven -

a nation
united and able through our unity
to overcome the evil of every present time -

THIS 
is in each our spirit first
before anything else
or not at all.
---<--@

spirit is energy

Salutation #146

(Sundown)

I feel we have crossed a threshold -

There is a definite change in the way the world is;
it is as if a cloud has descended upon our future, my people,
a menace that is not our doing...

There is a time of darkness ahead of us -
a time of uncertainty not necessarily evil in itself.

It may only become evil if we forget.

Let us then
hold on to our dream of Country,
let us carry on - together this time -
in spite of the gathering darkness,
despite our present lack of strength,
strive everyday to awaken this dream
in each ourselves, with each other,
and with all our other kindred nations -
all for a better world - for all.

Are we not the children of the Morning?

Night will pass,
the morning will come,
and we shall still be here.

For
the Day belongs to us
and we belong to the Day -
so bless the LORD, our God,
forever and ever
- alleluia -
now we will prove it to be true.
---<--@

Salutation #145

Look to the sea,
look to the flow.

Look to the heavens,
down here below.



(Hope Taking Wing [in Asia])

Listen.

In a small pond,
we may seem like little fish -
because we are.

But the world
upon which our nation is established
is a much, much bigger pond.

It is a veritable sea
with much, much more fish
of every size, disposition, and spirit.

In this living sea,
everything is growing and breathing,
everything is in everything,
and this everything is in motion.

If
our perspective
is that of a small pond,
we shall remain little.

But
if our perspective
becomes large enough
to encompass the living sea,
we shall long for this one sea
and this longing shall
carry us forth.

In such a way,
little fish do not always remain little
nor do big fish live to belong in a pond.

This
is the way we are
at this present moment
with the PRC.

- selah -

Now
our Asia can not be
without China
and

just as equally true is that
our Asia can not be
without the Philippines.

Our Asia can not be
without all the Asian nations together.
Period.

For
no Asian can ever truly experience
the true spirit of Asia as a continental belonging
without all the Asian nations
belonging together
and at peace with one another.

If we do not rise to meet her,
if we choose to remain in our own little ponds,

if we do not brave the journey to the one sea,
we will never realize this unity.

And
if we do not realize this unity,
we will always be lacking
either as our parts (national) or
as the sum of our parts (regional)
in the necessary strength
to overcome the vast problems
that have plagued our Asia
for centuries.

We, that is all of Asia,
and the generations after us
will suffer these same problems
multiplied by the spirit of the times.

But we have a choice!

---<--@


The one Quest

The Unbelonging

When evil inspiration inspires,

remember your remembrance,

holding true to all things dear,

go the other way.

When the unbelonging beckons,

remember your remembrance,

drawing close to all things near,

go the other way.

James Eagan Holmes, you have no concept of community.

You still have no idea how much hurt you have caused. I don't know whether to be furious at you or to pity you; of whether you are a criminal or a victim.

But I sure am grieved for what you caused!

You have murdered your fellow Americans, betrayed the cause of your citizenships together. You stole the lives of your victims from their loved ones, dishonored their dignity, and humiliated their promise in front of God and your Republic.

(This is all not to mention what hardships you have now undertaken to place on the shoulders of your own family and friends as well as your own loss to the community that sheltered you.)

You sir, have made Colorado a lesser place by your presence in her and now, by your own deficiency, you have delivered yourself in her hands and in the hands of the Justice of thy own Country.

May God be with you and may He show You what you did not show your own brother and sister Americans in that theater.

I love the movies.

I have gone to the movies myself (on many Friday night occasions) with friends and family and am deeply disturbed by your crime.

You should be put in a room by yourself with Old Glory and the flag of Colorado to dwell for years as to what you have failed to do.

For it is what you have chosen to omit in your soul that is your true crime.
---<--@



Let us continue to pray 

for the victims and their families.

The hardest part of our remembrance
is always in the finer details, in the littler things,
where the truth is nearest felt.

If the pain is to be understood,
this wounding must be felt (again and again) -
the names have to be known,
their lives have to be glimpsed,
their tragedy re-lived,
their hopes seen and heard,
and their pain embraced.

Only then can the lessons be learned.
Only then can the horror be unlearned.
Only then can the healing be efficacious.
---<--@

A Personal Retrospective -



(20120728)

Cinema is an experience.

What we buy
when we see a "movie"
is this experience.

The product we desire
is an intangible reality that we get to keep (for always)
as (good or even better, better) memories.

The craft of cinema-making
encompasses a wide array of disciplines
that include humanities, arts, literature,
culture, and the sciences.

Film is only
the material for this experience;
theater is only
the medium for this experience;
the cast, the crew, the set, the props,
the time involved and the money invested -
all of these contribute toward this one event
so that when a ticket is purchased
or a licensed record is bought,
everything comes together.

We enjoy the experience of the "movies".

And since
this is an (intimately human) experience,
it tends to transcend physical (temporal) limitations.

- selah -

Now then,
when I was watching
the latest Batman movie,
from 10,000 miles away
here in the Philippines,
I kept on looking
at the fire exit
to the right of the screen.

Being conscious
of what had recently happened in Colorado,
I can not help but be this way.

(I wasn't afraid or anything, I was just conscious).

However,
since I love this experience
and I understand it - a whole lot more.

I simply will not let that nutcase blow it.
(Excuse me but that's what I told myself).

So I got my money's worth.



And Anne Hathaway frikkin' rocked.

Simply awesome.
---<--@

Mang Dolphy

You know, the thing about Mang Dolphy is his ordinariness. 

I never got the hoity-toity air that some people put on when they reach the peaks of their profession from him. 

In the midst of all that temptation, there seems to be nothing vainglorious about him.

He must have been a man of substance.

In his shows, like Home Along Da Riles, he tended to disappear with his cast-mates, supporting them and blending in with them instead of standing out.

He must have been a good team mate.

I never knew the man personally and I never had a special affinity for Mang Dolphy but I sure loved his friends and some of them, I can almost certainly suppose, he had helped quietly along in their own careers.

He must have been a good friend.

Mang Dolphy delivered to us his art consistently for 60 years. For six decades, he worked to bring laughter to the people; a welcome relief from the many vicissitudes of everyday Filipino living.

He must have been driven by a sense of affection for the nation and now that same nation mourns the passing of an era...

He must have been a good Filipino.

Indeed, he must have been led by a certain love for his family, his friends, and his national community, and the outpouring of this very same love that was freely given to us now stands as a testament to the wonder of his life.

For by this giving, he has come to own a part of us forever.

I am sure many other things can be said about Mang Dolphy, good or bad, true or false, but of the things I have come know, there is enough for me to remember the man as he is so that after the tears - 

I know the laughter will come again.
---<--@

Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Sr. (19280725-20120710) - via con Dios.

Based on Presidential Proclamation No. 433, TODAY, July 13, 2012 is a National Day of Remembrance in honor of the late Rodolfo "Dolphy" Vera Quizon.

Ordinariness in humility clothed
the soul against the heat of gold,
and the heart from vanity and cold.

Salutation #144

(Nation vs Corruption)

Corruption 
must be uprooted
from the roots!

It must be
the conscious fight of every individual
who desire to prosper together as citizens
in a living community that is aware of itself,
at peace with its own true purpose for being,
striving under Almighty God
to build up the better causes
that make it human and free!

It must be fought
hand-in-hand with a loyal leadership,
comprised of Offices greater than the persons
who serve through each their institutions,
within a responsible government
at-one with its vision and lineage.

Unto to the very spirit 
of a people!
---<--@



Many things corruption can be,

my beloved people, for many are its names -
only one thing it is not - faithful.

Salamat po

Thank you, HRM Sofia of Spain 

for gracing our humble Country with your visit this July 2-6, 2012.

Your visit is greatly appreciated
and will be cherished and remembered
as an affirmation of the good will
between our Countries
and of the peace that exists
between our nations.

Mabuhay po kayo
at mabuhay po ang Espanya!
---<--@

Never scorn an offer of friendship
it may be the very hand that saves you from yourself.



And yes, Spanish should be one of our official cultural languages and have priority in that context within our educational system.

Salutation #143

(From Star to Star, One Whole Sky)

According to how
a constellation is recognized
upon the sky
are our nations seen
upon the earth.

First
by its primary stars
- our own first magnitudes.

Indeed,
leadership matters,
the brightness
or the dimness of it.

According
to our first magnitudes,
we are enlightened, empowered,
and further led to the unfailing brightness
of the fullness of our timeless remembrance
as a people upon this earth.

According
to our national leadership,
we are led to our own completeness
without losing either
freedom or common humanity
ever as those individual stars above -
each of us sufficient for being
ourselves as ourselves
and from least to greatest.

By our completeness,
our nation becomes a sovereign whole
and power then emanates from this one whole -
the power to awaken the Republic vision,
the power to preserve and advance the peace,
the power to realize the national destiny
for all Filipinos
and for all nations.
---<--@



Leaders beget only leaders,
ever as stars empower only stars.

Salutation #142

(Perceiving the Path)

When we think
to plan for our Country,
let us not think to plan

for a year, or two, or five,
or ten, or twenty.

When we plan
for this one Republic,
we are thinking of perceiving
- a path -
that opens a way
into forever.

So let us not be
so limited
by what years we posses (and perceive)
as individuals rather,
let all these years merge
- seamlessly, freely, lovingly -
into that great and fruitful longevity
that is our noble Republic undertaking;
the labor of our generations

to the very last of our generations!

Indeed,
let everything
lead into everything -
spirit unto Spirit

and truth unto Truth -
from hope to hope

and strength to strength -
because to everything

and in everything under heaven
there is a place and a season
in this Republic of ours.

   (So that
   if it is truly a good thing,
   and if this truly good thing matters
   to the welfare of our people
   from least to the greatest
   then, my compatriots,
   it may only be a matter of when.)

- selah -

Let us bear this now,
in mind and heart -

When we plan
for our Country,
we must plan - as if -
the entire width and breadth
of its glorious lifetime
was ours today.
---<--@



A year

is a measure of distance
only if it is imparted with a certain motion
- towards or away -
depends upon each thy own heart,
how empty or how full.