The Great Radicalizer

Who is the great radicalizer but the spirit of War?

Consistent,
persistent states of violent war
that reduce to meaningless suffering
unto despair -
the labor of our nations,
destroying the living fabric of our national communities,
and displacing the spirit and the memory
of entire peoples
from their own sense of common humanity.

War
that eventually calls down
an atmosphere (strange and unfamiliar)
that attracts radicals (i.e. political extremists)
from all walks of life -
and from all ways of religion.

But we, my people -

The Peace we shall share - together this time - shall be a great producer.

The Peace we are striving towards shall be a great producer of leaders, builders, farmers, fishers, merchants, artists, healers, craftsmen, and soldiers.

It shall be a Peace that sustains our common humanity and a Peace that obtains from God and All Heaven, every form of gift and blessing the LORD has promised our Father Abraham of old - for this Nation and all our kindred Nations in our one Family of Nations.

Learners we shall each be unto one another, knowing wonders - under this new Season and Sky.

It shall be our shelter in these times, and the overcoming strength of our generations.
---<--@


Keep Calm and Support the Bangsamoro

Shalom. Salaam. Peace.

"I will turn them back into their nations
and return them to a memory of themselves
unto the work that I have purposed for the earth
that they may understand again the value of peace

so that I may prosper them through their generations

and bring them back to a memory of each other."
---<--@



I love the Holy Land
and have often thought -

If Israel is attacked, I am an Israeli.

If Palestine is attacked, I am a Palestinian.

If both Israel and Palestine are attacked -
then I am Israeli and Palestinian both.

But when they attack each other,
I am sorely grieved...

I am sorely grieved
for the least, the defenseless,
and the voiceless among them both.

For when both attack each other,
it is never the blame of the weak
but always of the strong...

In this way, I find my voice.

So that when in my heart I affirm -
"let there be peace be in the Middle East!",
I become sure of my own sincerity.
---<--@


No Way

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.

---<--@

Salutation #71

Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:

"I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son,

I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;

your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing - all this because you obeyed my command."

- Genesis 22: 15-18

(An Abrahamic Prayer)

LORD God,

We humbly implore Thee:

help all Thy Muslims,

help all Thy Jews,

help all Thy Christians,

help us in all Thy nations, dear God -

help us to find each other in the dark.

Incline each our hearts

unto Thee, O LORD,

our one True Light.

Refresh our spirits!

May we be as a people

after Thy own Heart, O LORD,

all Thy numberless stars,

guided by the light of Thy Peace

and blessed by Thy will of good

for all Mankind.

Forsake us not, O LORD,

lest we perish in the darkness.

Fulfill in us that promise

Thou swore to our Father Abraham,

that promise Thou hast made of old,

O LORD, that Thou shalt lead us ever onward,

that Thou shalt guide us

toward the building of a better world

for all Thy nations.

By the light of Thy own faithfulness,

O LORD, bind us together

in the unity of Thy own Truth.

Establish Thy Holy Presence in our hearts

as a revelation upon the nations,

that Thou art God, O LORD,

He Who is, the LORD!

And let this be as the dawning

of Thy glory upon the earth.

AMEN.

---<--@

Therefore,

may our understanding of Peace

- be blessed with abundance -

by the one LORD of our nation

and of all nations - the God of Peace.

May our will be directed by God

to the truth that we are one nation,

- brothers and sisters -

in the singular labor of peace

and peace which brings

true prosperity, happiness,

and the realization of our nationhood.

May our common salutation of Peace

be a reflection of the fullness of this knowledge

in our heart of hearts - that -

as children of the Promise,

we are all born to that one promise of old

that God made to our Father Abraham

that we shall be a blessing to our nations.

Let us be as a light unto each other,

ever as the numberless stars - that -

in the darkness of these times,

shines steadfastly the way forward

into a new age for our one Filipino nation

and for our one family of nations

- a new age of Peace.

Salaam. Shalom. Peace.

Under our one Republic sky,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we are but one House - one lineage of victory -

for this House doth serve the LORD,

O my nation - forever!

---<--@

20110209

My honorable Filipino compatriots, don't you know we have not yet begun to build?

You must never allow yourselves to become prone to comparing our Country with others before our time. This inclination only leads to disillusionment, bitterness and despair.

Whatever difficulties God has set before our nation is sufficient for us in our day. Verily, God allows each undertaking of Country upon the earth a measure of evil sufficient for the good of each nation according to His most beneficent design for all the children of Mankind.

If today we somehow feel we do not yet possess a sense of national history illustrious enough to satiate that desire within our collective memory as a people, it is only because this history is still being written for us and by us even this very day.

Never must you delve again into the things we ought not to be, my nation, because what we take into our hearts these days will invariably dictate what our generations make of this land and its peoples.

Therefore, we must, under the eternal vigilance of Almighty God, exercise our citizenship to each other with the utmost fidelity.

If we are to emerge into our ages in time, we must know by instinct that as far as Country goes, we are all Filipinos - one work, one people, one destiny.

This is not to say that we shall allow evil to dwell in our land, this is to say that we shall now work to banish it - into the void, forever. For true citizenship does not make deals with the evil in all evil things.

But let us also not forget, my fellow Filipino compatriots, here in this present time, that we are still at the twilight of our present awakening. Here, O my nation, where our greatest enemy is truly only the darkness itself (or as Kenneth Cragg eloquently stated in his book, "Palestine", the guilt of structures, the wrongs of society i.e. the inhumanity in interhumanity).

Therefore, let us be gentler in our dealings with one another. Let us be kinder in our perceptions about ourselves. We have no other master now but the freedoms our nation have gained for itself at such a cost; a liberty we must continually purchase with much sacrifice and vigilance of heart.

We have no other sovereign now but the LORD Whose manifest will it is for us to succeed in our quest for an abiding peace and true self-determination; God Whose most efficacious and decisive assistance we may always rely upon.

Never again must you lose sight of the hope that we have always possessed as a people. Nor the love that must forever bind us all together in our authentic human freedoms. Nor the faith that allow for our nation to overcome all that is adversity.

In the midst of these present travails, O my people, never again must you believe in despair. Be generous in this way, my nation Philippines, and we shall not fail to see the morning dawn upon this Land of Promise.

---<--@

For the Philippine Peace Process:

Concentrate on building up the national community. This is our primary task.

Let us not forget that the foundation of a meaningful, sustainable, durable peace is a strong and vibrant national community.

If we neglect this or lose sight of it, we will - as ordinary citizens, lose our necessary sense of an abiding connection to the larger process of peace-building that we, as a nation, have duly invested in our responsible state.

This larger peace process is only secondary to this task of nation-building with which we as ordinary citizens are everyday engaged.

Everything we do as a nation is connected to this larger peace process (and this larger peace process is also connected to the greater peace-building initiatives around our world).

In this way, your smallest kindness counts for much. If you are to be kind to our poor and needy compatriots, you affirm the peace in our communities. If you help them but above all teach them to be right about themselves as citizens, one to another, you add to the strength of our civil order.

Nothing that is good is ever lost. For all good things contain in them something that is true about ourselves as human beings and all true things cleave to each other in the light - for as these are the things that are truly worth remembering, these are also the things that angels remember, that God does not forget.

So strive to always fulfill what good God places before your heart. Do not cling to evil things nor be influenced by it.

The peace process walks on two fronts - nation to nation and state to state. I am speaking this to you as part of the nation.

It would be a hollow victory indeed to have peace on paper alone. Do not be discouraged. Break the rule of war (division) in your hearts and make the choice to shed away the darkness forever.

Be generous in this way, my nation Philippines, and we shall not fail to see the morning dawn upon this Land of Promise.

---<--@

An Abrahamic Prayer:

LORD God, We humbly implore Thee: help all of Thy Muslims, help all of Thy Jews, help all of Thy Christians, help us in all Thy nations, dear God. Help us to find each other in the dark.

Incline each our hearts unto Thee, O LORD, our one True Light. Refresh our spirits. May we be as a people after Thy own Heart, O LORD, all Thy numberless stars, guided by the light of Thy peace and blessed by Thy will of good for all Mankind.

Forsake us not, O LORD, lest we perish in the darkness. Fulfill in us that promise Thou swore to our Father Abraham, that promise Thou hast made of old, O LORD, that Thou shalt lead us ever onward, that Thou shalt guide us toward the building of a better world for all Thy nations.

By the light of Thy own faithfulness, O LORD, bind us together in the unity of Thy own Truth. Establish Thy Holy Presence in our hearts as a revelation upon the nations, that Thou art God, O LORD, He Who is, the LORD and let this be as the dawning of Thy glory upon the earth.

AMEN.

---<--@

Serviam (Serve): This is what is meant by the last will be first and the first will be last.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Angelo Reyes (19450317 - 20110208) via con Dios.

Are we not all Filipinos? This is the bottom line: We have lost one of our own.

However which way we are to receive his passing away, we are still the lonelier now for it and for this I am grieved.

Nation-State