Salutation #49
Hear me, O my nation! The LORD, thy God, is a God of relationships.
(This one it is difficult.
You must please bear with me.)
(Our one Human Habitation)
Cast adrift in this great void of exile time,
in a remote spiral arm of our one Milky Way galaxy,
but one upon one of more than a billion known galaxies
that lay spread in their great clusters
across the vast expanse of this visible universe;
upon the life bearing regions of a nameless yellow star,
lay a nameless, native planet of earth -
a world embraced by those familiar circling of seasons
held in their great cycles by the perennial sweep
of each our measured round
about a singular middle aged star we simply call, our sun;
a world sheltering these worlds within ourselves.
This is the reality of our one planetary home.
It is a reality - that -
while seemingly being at present - obscured -
by the prevailing darkness of these times,
is nevertheless the abiding truth that prevails
as the one common reality of our one planetary home.
We are upon this earth,
a world embarked upon an inevitable journey
toward an inescapable destiny - that -
while remaining hidden and unbeknownst
even to the understanding of many,
is nevertheless the unfolding of a reality - that -
has and ever will be - a truth - that is and must be shared
by and with all human beings
as the one common reality of our one human habitation.
Upon this, our home world,
we as human beings have pondered together
the questions of our existence.
Each these question as questions bent and inward sought
like answers seeking its way into thought.
Each these thoughts as thoughts we must leave afloat
upon the cumulative tide of each those silent moments
we spend sought in our seeking.
Each our seeking like our prayers - met -
by our ascending with each moment that rises and falls
with each moment - spent -
in the pondering of that great and unfathomable Silence,
awash upon a void,
hostile beyond hostile to all Sacred Life.
We are by what answers we bear for each other,
ever like the twinkling of each of those unseen stars
rising in their great arcs
upon the great ocean of our LORD's Eternity,
an inward part of the rising and falling of one firmament,
an integral part of the seasons of our one native sky.
These seasons of our one native sky
are the interior seasons within each and every human soul
that when perceived through the ebb and flow motions
of our coming together in our great belongings under the sun,
become the great celestial sweep of that one unseen cycle
rising from deep within the soul of all Mankind.
And it is this one unseen cycle
that universally attests to our common human witness
of that one great and unfathomable purpose of all creation,
the one great celestial cycle,
the one gathering of the All of Sacred Life,
and the one destiny toward which we are purposed
to steer the one common reality of our one human habitation.
We are like the questions that we ask,
borne by each our own common experience
of our one human habitation.
We are by what answers we bear for each other
carried afloat upon the great sweep of the physical motions
of this vast and empty realm of the visible universe.
For we are through each other,
our own seamless experience of our one common human reality,
the experience of our own human habitation.
Begun at the timeless birth of all human togetherness,
we are upon the earth, upon this one great and visible realm
of our one common human habitation - with each other -
as those worlds upon worlds
bound by our own true belongings to each other
as the one lineage of the generations of the children of Mankind.
And fallen into the darkness of exile time,
at the autumnal dusk of our faded Eden,
at the great scattering of worlds,
we were a togetherness never purposed to belong
upon a realm intended to be as divided, dark and barren,
as fallen, bitter and empty
as these shattered skies fallen upon our world.
When we, as human beings, gaze out into the universe
- above and around ourselves -
we must know in our heart of hearts
that even in the midst of all this emptiness and longing for life,
even in the embrace of all these questions sought
here in the darkness of exile time,
here at the great scattering of worlds,
if we are to understand the order of the physical stars
in those temporal heavens above and around our native of earth,
from clusters to galaxies, from star to star,
from worlds to their companion worlds,
we can easily perceive in each native region of space
what is reflected inwardly in our souls
like a primordial longing bound in companionships.
For there is only a gathering sense of belonging
in the all of visible creation and this sense of belonging,
reflected by the physical order
of even those shattered temporal skies
that lay barren about our native of earth
and amidst all of this exile darkness,
is the one order that have endured - and therefore -
should be the one truth that must have always to prevail
in the order of all of the visible universe.
For our one human habitation
is not comprised of individual human beings
ordered according to each individual self.
Our one human habitation is ordered
- according to the connections that we serve with each other -
as individual human beings
and those relationships borne in exile time and dimensional space
that we in our shared humanity
is purposed to serve with and for the All of Sacred Life
that we must in our own particular belongings to each other
responsibly carry out not as divided individuals but as united wholes -
ever as those nations dreaming together this time.
Therefore,
we must be able to perceive the reality of all of visible creation
with an understanding that bring us closer
to an understanding of what truth it reflects.
For our one human habitation
reflects the truth about our own persons as human beings
with and to each other - in God and Country, for God and Country.
---<--@
On Friendship
To love first your friends is to know them -
May all our friendships be without frontiers!
The Angels of the LORD,
my precious Starshine,
each of which is distinct
in Beauty and Light,
being individually endowed
with splendor of truths
unique to each their gifts
possessed by each their person
from the very beginning
of their swift flight
across the timeless void
and into eternity
into the wholeness
which is God
for lack of human words
to define the strength of a relationship
that transcend the all of time
from across that veil of shadow and tears
beyond the sum total of human experience
call each other "friends".
Each of our family
who are related to us
by corporal bonds of blood
are the friends that our LORD
has chosen for us.
Each of our friends
who become part of us
by spiritual bonds of truth
are the family that we learn to choose
in the course of each our lives
to complete what our LORD
has begun for us
in our families.
Both bonds bind us together
in the strength of human relationships
that nurture life and sustain hope
through action of community
and the service of life.
You must love,
my precious Starshine,
to transform these bonds
into that one friendship alone.
my precious Starshine,
each of which is distinct
in Beauty and Light,
being individually endowed
with splendor of truths
unique to each their gifts
possessed by each their person
from the very beginning
of their swift flight
across the timeless void
and into eternity
into the wholeness
which is God
for lack of human words
to define the strength of a relationship
that transcend the all of time
from across that veil of shadow and tears
beyond the sum total of human experience
call each other "friends".
Each of our family
who are related to us
by corporal bonds of blood
are the friends that our LORD
has chosen for us.
Each of our friends
who become part of us
by spiritual bonds of truth
are the family that we learn to choose
in the course of each our lives
to complete what our LORD
has begun for us
in our families.
Both bonds bind us together
in the strength of human relationships
that nurture life and sustain hope
through action of community
and the service of life.
You must love,
my precious Starshine,
to transform these bonds
into that one friendship alone.
And make these bonds
into the bonds of angels
who are each in God
spirits united in their freedom
created by the strength of friendships
bound in timeless truth.
So with each other,
my precious Starshine,
you must build on the good,
and give to the need of thy beloved
recognizing in thy shared humanity
the giving of the LORD
Who is the singular Source
of all our relationships.
Be thankful for friendship wings
human, angelic and Divine,
that take us all across
from moment to moment
into an understanding of its peace
lifting us into the unity
of those wholes upon wholes
from hope to hope
and strength to strength
past, into present
and into every present
across the void
into eternity.
into the bonds of angels
who are each in God
spirits united in their freedom
created by the strength of friendships
bound in timeless truth.
So with each other,
my precious Starshine,
you must build on the good,
and give to the need of thy beloved
recognizing in thy shared humanity
the giving of the LORD
Who is the singular Source
of all our relationships.
Be thankful for friendship wings
human, angelic and Divine,
that take us all across
from moment to moment
into an understanding of its peace
lifting us into the unity
of those wholes upon wholes
from hope to hope
and strength to strength
past, into present
and into every present
across the void
into eternity.
Starshine,
there is always a reason to smile.
---<--@On Loyalty
What you do for your friends will be remembered by your friends. What you don't do for your friends will be remembered by your enemies.
Starshine,
the things of Loyalty
are the relationships
that shall remain
forever with thee;
so defend your friendships
with courage and tenacity.
For we are not Loyal
if we do not remain
true to each other,
moment to moment,
from always to always
appreciating those things
that we share in our humanity
and respecting the things
that make us unique as persons,
seen as well as unseen,
in ourselves and in our nations
in the vision of our timeless belonging
with one another in God and Country
as each our own true self -
as each our own true names
written in heaven.
From the descendant gravity
of the spirit of war and division;
against things born of the darkness
defeated and empty of promise
stand fast in thy friendships!
Guard thy peace with each other
and in thy togetherness hope.
Never be Loyal
to inanimate and empty things;
those fickle and ephemeral
things of vanity!
But only to each other
and in the ascendant motions
of Sacred Life.
For the realization of all our hope
rests in the glory of our LORD
in all creation.
And all these created things
are made by our one common Creator
to be Loyal to all of these.
---<--@
the things of Loyalty
are the relationships
that shall remain
forever with thee;
so defend your friendships
with courage and tenacity.
For we are not Loyal
if we do not remain
true to each other,
moment to moment,
from always to always
appreciating those things
that we share in our humanity
and respecting the things
that make us unique as persons,
seen as well as unseen,
in ourselves and in our nations
in the vision of our timeless belonging
with one another in God and Country
as each our own true self -
as each our own true names
written in heaven.
From the descendant gravity
of the spirit of war and division;
against things born of the darkness
defeated and empty of promise
stand fast in thy friendships!
Guard thy peace with each other
and in thy togetherness hope.
Never be Loyal
to inanimate and empty things;
those fickle and ephemeral
things of vanity!
But only to each other
and in the ascendant motions
of Sacred Life.
For the realization of all our hope
rests in the glory of our LORD
in all creation.
And all these created things
are made by our one common Creator
to be Loyal to all of these.
---<--@
A Requiem Prayer -
I am very sensitive to the impact of lost innocents and I knew it. I was only beginning to know my Anne and her lost generation.
The only name whose life I can remember is Tod Beamer on Flight 93. And he was a hero - is a hero. He became consigned to embrace with valor the fate which though sad, he and those others with him were able to transform into a shining light. It is easy to remember guys like Tod.
But what of the others? Those who died crying and afraid. Those who are difficult to let go? What of the youngest who I now learned is only 3 years old?
I blocked them all during that first week. I avoided knowing more about their stories. Not because I wanted to but because I had to - for me.
9/11 also happened during the darkest times of my life. I was not yet reconciled to many things in my own life. My personal life was at a threshold. I was in despair.
And then all was swept away in the aftermath. That was all exactly 10 years ago yesterday.
So last night, when I heard the calling of the names, I remembered again that first week (this is Philippine time of course which is exactly 12hrs ahead of the Eastern Seaboard). I was affected again. I felt the pain of the loss. But this time, I felt I was no longer alone. And I began to include them in my prayers to God.
I encourage you to please do so as well.
People with no connection to people will say this is all over-hyped. But if you understand what I understand, you will think of people. Because we are our relationships.
Let us pray for the victims and their families. Let us expedite their final hopes on earth.
---<--@
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.
The Truth
Breaking the Siege
