Salutation #177

Spirit is light.

Thus, how a shadow is transmitted at the source
is also how the original wounding of the first man and woman
became the original wound that - in our soul - we all carry
down the line of the generations of our humanity
to the very last of our generations.



(The Original Wounding)

"The Devil sinned in the Presence of God
but Man sinned in the presence of the Devil."

Original sin was just that... a sin - the sin...
(whose it ultimately was still depends on each of us)
It was transmitted from our original parents
down the spiritual lineage of our common humanity
as an infirmity in our hearts, an original wound:
   the cause of our exile - the separating hurt of time -
   the pain of all our pain - the fear in all our fear -
   the source of all human suffering and death
because truly, brothers and sisters,
we are more universally inclined to weakness in our natures
than to evil - for this is how we are human...  
because we are vulnerable.

Therefore,
we have to be gentle and kind
with ourselves and others like ourselves Now
knowing that to be human is ONLY to err and NOT yet to sin
and be human with our own humanity -

Indeed,
let us strive to understand - once and again -
that the origins of sin is not human...
because an understanding of this is - of that same truth -
which underpins our understanding of Justice.

FOR -

The Justice of fear and punishment,
the Justice of hatred and vengeance -
this believes that Man is by nature evil.

It believes all men guilty right from the very beginning
and accords all that is evil unto all human institutions,
and evil's damnation unto all human nations,
sowing despair at its wake.

But the Justice of love and restoration,
the Justice of repair and repentance -
this believes otherwise:

It believes all men innocent
unless proven guilty by their necessary degrees,
each according to the living customs of the laws of our nations,
and accords the merit and virtue of these self-same remembrances
to empower human institutions, and strengthen human nations,
sowing hope at its wake.
---<--@

Salutation #3

Darkness is but the darkness if it does not lead to the light.

(Darkness)

To the numberless lights 
of our kindred belonging,
greetings of sincere hope
and good will -
my love and prayers:

There is evil in our days,
as it was in those days of old.

Evil where it is allowed to endure
into every present time
to stand against the line (of our nations)
established in the Now of the moment
is an enemy that is never meant
to defeat the will of the good (nor it's Source).

For the arrangement of all past things
in every (individual, unrepeatable) person's life
like a romance between human choice
and the serendipity of God's grace
is always intended in such a way
by the beneficence of Divine Providence
so as to culminate into every present time
which is always sufficient in its own Day
with regards to the particular evils
- that - each and every individual soul
(this is equally true in the life of communities)
must in each their own time and place
learn to recognize and vanquish
by and through the grace of our LORD
in (support of) and with the support of our human communities,
(each in their own order and context, as wholes within wholes)
civic and religious, national and international (and beyond),
that exist for our (human) benefit
- in exile time (across the veil of time) -
to safeguard and foster our common good.

Should there be evil in our day,
even if the past had a large part to play
in its appearance in our present time,
indeed, it should not be here to give us reason
to conveniently dwell on the darkness of past things
(and allow our spirit to be absorbed into the darkness,
with hearts sunk into the unfeeling, unknowing nothingness
of the void of all things that never were).

- selah -

Where evil is allowed to endure
- into the present reality -
of souls and communities of souls,
it is so that we may learn in our own lives
how to effectively close the doors of past things.

Believe that evil endures
not to defeat the human being
but to allow him or her the unique opportunity
to recreate in every present moment
through God and with each other,
the beginnings of better, brighter
and nobler things (for all Mankind).

Peace.
---<--@

(produced 20081208)

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.
---<--@

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.

Salutation #68

To use a line from the recent HBO mini-series, "Game of Thrones":

"Winter is coming, we can not afford to fight a war among ourselves."

(The Evil in all evil things)

If guns were the root of all evil,

we'd be fighting these wars

with sticks and stones instead.

If money were the root of all evil,

we'd still be poor for lack of love.

If people were the root of all evil,

why are there still people in this world

so much in need of our humanity?

For God does not suffer evil without a cause!

And if God were the root of all evil,

why do we suffer all these questions?

Alas! There is an Evil in all evil things -

all that in spirit sows diverse corruption in the soul of Man

causing the human spirit to turn against its own self;

inspiring the human heart with adulterous lies

and the promise of empty, defeated things

poisoning both the willing as well as the unwary of soul

with false inspirations wrought by the fallen vision

of the eternal destiny of the nations of the children of Mankind.

This spirit is the spirit of War -

the ancient adversary of all national community;

an emptiness that seeks to consume as if with fullness -

crafting division, sowing discord, scattering peoples,

and devouring generations entire.

- selah -

We shall not be useful against War.

For to contend against it - and therefore, against each other -

is what War desires for us to do.

We are to build from upon these times,

the better, brighter, kinder shape of things to come;

maintain it where it needs, advance it where it should,

defend it where we must, always being mindful -

to never exceed ourselves in our observance of peace.

For the more we build upon our peace as one nation,

the more we drive against the darkness of War - and -

as we press on and away from this midnight of our times,

the more sense of hope we shall meet along the way,

ever the nearer we are to the breaking of the day

- where the new age awaits -

ever shall we also know Peace

in our heart of hearts.

And even if we do not live to see those days,

for we are here to nurture trees whose shelter we shall never use

and to build the foundation of things we shall never finish

- if we believe in the LORD and in each other -

if we endure despite ourselves and prevail in unity and in the Good,

in spite of all these things, we shall,

at the one final gathering of all our nations,

I know, come to a knowledge of these things...

- selah -

O my beloved people -

remembrance is the bond

that binds together our lineages,

our families, tribes and our peoples,

into that one gathering sense

of a self-cognizant identity

that we recognize as our nationhood.

It is in our spirit;

a unity bound by our labors

to obtain from God and heaven,

the vision of our peace - here on earth -

in time - and - unto the fulfillment

of time as we know it.

It is a unity fostered and protected by our one Republic - forever -

and a Republic guarded jealously by the Angel of the Philippines.

If there were a billion of us who belong to this one nation of ours,

endowed by our liberty with the same strength of diversity,

we would each be possessed by the same awareness

of what makes our belongings to each other

a valid and common reality.

We are children of the Promise

and born to this Land of Promise

unto a labor of common dreams

as citizens like unto each other.

We are Filipino

who by any other name

is what binds us together

as this one Filipino nation.

And this sense of belonging applies

so long as we exist as a people

together in time (our generations)

and across dimensional space (our families, our tribes)

so that if there were only two of us left,

it would still be the same truth.

Therefore, as a nation, when we forget,

it is worse than when we knew nothing.

For when we knew nothing,

there was nothing to forget.

But when we forget,

we are always divided against something.

Worse, it is always something

we should never have forgotten.

The War in Heaven is in the heart.

---<--@

"Ang bansa nati'y hindi nabubuhay dahil madilim ang gabi."

Never Again!

Revelation 12: 7-9

O Holy Michael,

by the power of God,

the dragon prevailed not!

O Heavenly Hosts,

by thy swift and powerful ascent

to the unity of the LORD,

Satan and all his fallen angels

lost their place in heaven.

War is vanquished forever!

20110725

Starshine, peace be with you -

Have you prayed for Norway and her people recently?

What happened in Norway, of our one family of nations, is a terrible thing.

What had cost that nation many lives, mostly young lives, is a spirit that once led into the human heart divides it against its own humanity.

It is not the fault of Norway.

Most certainly, it is the fault of Mr. Breivik. But most of all, it is the fault of the enemy of God and of all our kindred nations.

Do the innocents justice, our beloved Starshine, and tolerate no division, no enmity, no chaos within thy own selves - preserve the reign of the LORD within each thy own worlds within.

Of whatever name or doctrine it may fashion itself as, Beloved of God, when it shall propose itself - with lies - at the door of thy soul, you must never allow this spirit of War into thy own heart of hearts.

With due diligence preserve thyself, precious Starshine of the nations of Mankind, in the good graces of God and in common good will to each other as free citizens of His creation, for by thus thou wilt strike at the very heart of the spirit of War itself.

The law of the land of Norway will bind the evil of Mr. Breivik. But the justice of your own souls, Beloved of the LORD, must work to continue to preserve the common good in our societies outside of the courts of our nations.

Let us review the following -

Salutation #3

(Darkness)

TO THE NUMBERLESS LIGHTS
of our kindred belonging,
greetings of sincere hope
and good will -
my love and prayers:

There is evil in our days,
as it was in those days of old.

Evil where it is allowed to endure
into every present time
to stand against the line
established in the Now of the moment
is an enemy that is never meant
to defeat the will of the good.

For the arrangement of all past things
in every person's life
like a romance between human choice
and the serendipity of God's grace
is always intended in such a way
by the beneficence of Divine Providence
so as to culminate into every present time
which is always sufficient in its own Day
with regards to the particular evils
that each and every individual soul
must in each their own time and place
learn to recognize and vanquish
by and through the grace of our LORD
in and with the support of our human communities,
civic and religious, national and international,
that exist for our benefit

- in exile time -

to safeguard and foster our common good.

Should there be evil in our day,
even if the past had a large part to play
in its appearance in our present time,
indeed, it should not be here to give us reason
to conveniently dwell on the darkness of past things.

Where evil is allowed to endure
into the present reality
of souls and communities of souls,
it is so that we may learn in our own lives
how to effectively close the doors of past things.

Believe that evil endures
not to defeat the human being
but to allow him or her the opportunity
to recreate in every present moment
in God and with each other,
the beginnings of better, brighter and nobler things.

Peace.
---<--@

Salutation #5

(Freedom)

PEACE, I salute you.

Even the smallest of lights
shines in the darkness -
so shift your focus, my friend,
if you haven't already done so
for each and every good thing counts
regardless of the darkness.

What is praiseworthy is right action.
It is what makes us distinct from the darkness -
it is ignition -
the actual point of contact
between human will and divine grace.
Right action is, in the painting by Michelangelo
of Adam reaching out to God
with their fingers extending out to each other,
that bright spark at the imagined point of contact
between the freedom of Man and the freedom of God:
Right action always results in good works.

What motivates the will to act
must also be what inspire the heart to love.
Therefore, evil action is always the result
of false inspiration -
the idolatry of sin!
So if we are to do good,
we must first learn to love the good -
and shun all that is evil.

For we profit not from evil,
my dear friend,
but from the good;
our motivation being derived
from purposes that are good,
our hopes being anchored upon things
that are true and therefore, good,
and the wings of our surrender to prayer
being ever vigilant and discerning
in its ascent
to the one Giver of all good things.

For evil no longer hold us captive.
We have come to know it
and forever bless the LORD for His Light.
Therefore, we seek now to unknow it
upon paths of repentance
that lead away from darkness
and into peace -
peace in our hearts -
peace with our fellow human beings -
peace with all of heaven -
and peace with our God.
---<--@

Anything fashioned purely out of hatred and the spirit of revenge bring only darkness and grief at its wake. Do not be by evil-inspired.

---<--@

Mabuhay po tayong lahat! Peace be to Norway and her people. God bless us all.

Lastly, just a final reminder for all my honorable Filipino compatriots - mamayang hapon na po:

We will certainly be discussing this - constructively - in support of the mission of our Republic and in the context of the goals of the Aquino administration.

Mabuhay ang ating Presidente at mabuhay din po ang kanyang Bise Presidente!

20101123

Pathology of a Tyranny

Today, the whole nation commemorates the Maguindanao Massacre.

Exactly one year ago, 58 of our fellow Filipino compatriots, including 32 journalists, were ruthlessly murdered in a great and astonishing crime that shocked the nation and sent ripples around the world.

What was shocking about these murders is the sheer audacity by which it was carried out. It was committed with an air of impunity and brutality that was so great as to be astonishing.

It stands out singularly and distinctively as an evil fruit of an evil tree.

No evil of this magnitude suddenly appears without first being allowed to maturate, my fellow Filipino compatriots, the Maguindanao Massacre was not an accident.

Tyranny takes many mature forms but are born of one beginning; the people has to allow it. For without our permission, in principle, no tyranny will ever reach its most absurd heights.

This was allowed to happen, the evil tree was allowed to bear evil fruit.

In times of peace, in a Republic such as ours, it would have been more difficult for a tyranny of any shape to evolve into a form that threatens the freedom and order of our civil society.

But these are defining times, my fellow Filipino compatriots - we are still in a twilight shadow for a decision looms over the threshold of our hearts - a choice for a meaningful, sustainable, durable peace toward a better, more vital Republic of the Philippines.

It is the common work of tyrants whether temporal or spiritual to deny us our ability to benefit from our human freedom.

Indeed, how can we consider ourselves free if there is an area of our life that is ruled by fear and ignorance? How much do we know of ourselves? How much do we know of our fellow Filipinos?

Differences and divisions are only fearsome if we allow ourselves to be ruled by it. Our Country is wracked by these divisions and nowhere are the wounds of our nation more evident than in our beloved Mindanao: As one of the three stars of our Old Defiant, she deserves to shine no less brightly than the first two.

Therefore, we should let our remembrances today stir our hearts and spur our minds onward, God-willing, toward a better understanding of ourselves as a people - that we are one people; a nation established by God; a nation distinct but not apart from the one family of the nations of Mankind.

We deserve better, my fellow Filipino compatriots, and because we do, the work is ours today to make it so - the work of Country: We are a Republic because peace is the will of the LORD for us, the peace that prospers.

No power on earth can ever bring back the victims of the Maguindanao Massacre. But we can dignify their passing by a celebration of their lives, their hopes, undimmed and unforgotten, now joined to the hopes of all our heroes and martyrs for a better, more vital Philippines for all Filipinos.

We shall grieve with the loneliness of those who have lost their loved ones but not with tears of bitterness shall we weep today, my fellow Filipino compatriots.

For we shall bear with each other the pain of their remembrance, O my nation, and make it our own and we shall see this season of sorrow pass away into new seasons of life together this time.

Truly, it flies in the face of the Republic, here in this day and age, to have such an evil hovering over the hopes of our compatriots -

It not only requires but demands justice:

Justice delayed is justice denied!

The later it takes to bring the cause of justice completely to bear upon this great an evil, the more potent its spirit shall in time become to haunt our generations over again.

Televise the trial for the benefit and the healing of the nation.

Indeed, let us also always remember not to punish the innocent with the guilty. In the pursuit of justice, we must never repay evil with more evil.

May our remembrance of that fateful day be both blessed and meaningful.

And let us all continue to pray for justice and for peace.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Salutation #3

(Darkness)

TO THE NUMBERLESS LIGHTS
of our kindred belonging,
greetings of sincere hope
and good will -
my love and prayers:

There is evil in our days,
as it was in those days of old.

Evil where it is allowed to endure
into every present time
to stand against the line
established in the Now of the moment
is an enemy that is never meant
to defeat the will of the good.

For the arrangement of all past things
in every person's life
like a romance between human choice
and the serendipity of God's grace
is always intended in such a way
by the beneficence of Divine Providence
so as to culminate into every present time
which is always sufficient in its own Day
with regards to the particular evils
that each and every individual soul
must in each their own time and place
learn to recognize and vanquish
by and through the grace of our LORD
in and with the support of our human communities,
civic and religious, national and international,
that exist for our benefit

- in exile time -

to safeguard and foster our common good.

Should there be evil in our day,
even if the past had a large part to play
in its appearance in our present time,
indeed, it should not be here to give us reason
to conveniently dwell on the darkness of past things.

Where evil is allowed to endure
into the present reality
of souls and communities of souls,
it is so that we may learn in our own lives
how to effectively close the doors of past things.

Believe that evil endures
not to defeat the human being
but to allow him or her the opportunity
to recreate in every present moment
in God and with each other,
the beginnings of better, brighter and nobler things.

Peace.
---<--@

Darkness is but darkness that does not lead to the light.

---<--@

I hope that Tilapia roast they had over at Maguindanao makes it into the record books! Salaam: Peace be to all of you from all of us.

Eye of the Heart