Love Decides

VI. Love Decides

There is no perfect person, only perfect choices.

I used to believe
that love and lovers
come by chance...

Soulmate? Happenstance.

But nowadays, 

'tis different for me...

Nowadays, I am convinced
one has to be more romantic...
and also, more free.

- selah -

Love stories,
it is usually assumed, is all about hellos.

One meets a person,
they fall in love, they fall out of love,
then they rise and fall in a lost sea...
until one day... their own love finds them...
Or not.

It really depends...

Because the greatest love stories,
if one may allow, are all about good byes.

It takes a leap. Or many leaps to arrive at it.
But before that, many a fond, tearful farewell...
to the old. 

That the weeping may all be wept...

Sometimes,
the heart has to trust - in the love itself.
The love that you and your beloved
chose to choose.

Which also chose you,
but - together
as one.

And there will be those times,
difficult times, when the heart decides
and then realizes...

Maybe after saying
all those painful good byes,
the heart in seeking for solace
may find - hello,
there is such a thing
as a soulmate
after all!

But perhaps,
not before.

Soulmates...
do not happen at random,
I don't think so.

You decide.
---<--@

Pinky Promise?

Exchange Fish

Happy, happy, fish, fish - sushi!

Me and my Miyang
gave each other
a fish today.

It was
the same kind of fish
of exactly the same size...
and it tasted the same, too.

Indeed,
the only thing
that made it different 
was the giving...

For it came from our hearts...
and made something ordinary
into something extraordinary.

It was all it took
to make us happy cats.
---<--@

A Perfect Democracy?

No Perfection Without God



A perfect democracy can not exist in this world, as it is.

All we can hope for is
to achieve an optimal tension.
One that ensures within our society
- under the eternal vigilance of Almighty God -
that the responsible side of our freedom
- those authentic human freedoms -
are always - ALWAYS - well on their way
to winning the conflict - against their false and evil side:
That the truth is ever over untruth, light is ever over darkness,
good is ever over evil, spirit over matter, and Peace over War...

Thus, preserving the Creative Ideal - in every generation 

for All our generations to the very last generation.

For -

Freedom is to know freedom.
Democracy is to love it.
Liberty is to be guided by it
and Happiness is to be able to live it
- alone or with others -
under the eternal vigilance of God,
imperfectly in this world
and perfectly in the Next.
---<--@

Our slavery is a bond.
But our freedom too is a bond.
The former, of death and oppression.
The latter, of life and liberation.
One is a betrayal.
The other, a vindication of the betrayed.

II. The Republic

To Old Glory, an ode - 

Thou, 

at thy Birthing art forever conceived -

the home of the free, for the free, by the free

ensuring a government for the people, and by the people

carrying aloft the will and the mandate of all thy generations!

The vision of thy conception thus enshrined 

and the ideals of thy belonging thus conserved

through the economy of thy generations preserved

that Thou, that Dream - orphaned to thy own world, 

in spirit borne unto shores, distant and new, by pilgrim wings, 

to become a peculiar appearance upon the earth, a peculiar people -

art One - reborn into a unity of many, embracing a nation that is free 

and forever now endowed with thy own Spirit, faithful and true

vigilant in thy defense, and kept by God forever true to thy memory -

a nascent labor of Country, gained in Him, and through His grace

constantly achieved by thy own faith in His Providential trust.

Thou, 

at the Crossroads of Independence -

refused to be a nation in thy Spirit suppressed

by any power of hell or human dominion spread upon earth

nor enslaved by whim of tyrants with freedoms, evil and strange,  

than THIS, the dominion thou hast at thy Birthing established
in Covenant with God, and before all thy kindred nations in Eternity,

for Thou art fully invested in thy becoming, as a work of His hands,  

stronger for each thy hope in each thy present generations arising 

brighter for each thy days lived in memory of every generations past,

thou art like a song that in the stillness of thy heart gets better and better 

with every music that begins to play for all thy generations left unsung.
   

Thou wert a labor of the LORD, forever unworthy of another!
For the freedom of God shall be the inheritance of thy nationhood

and its principles thou hast with all thy heart resolved to keep forever.

Indeed, this is thy Liberty and well suited to thy love and allegiance  

and Thou art today for shame if thy own freedoms are not wholly thine

and that Thou art for naught today if thy own honor thou shalt desert

for truly Thou art in courage better served - always - than in fear

and so Thou called forth thy own Great Defender to thy common defense
(for Thou art His, the LORD's, and may this be of thy conviction forevermore)

and an army rallied to the first thy great and noble Fathers, George the free,

for as a nation thou resolved to be led - even unto war and its attendant evils.

Thus in thy will of love and fraternal sacrifice,
even unto the shedding of thy blood and thy tears
Thou - through the travails and terrors of battle enduring and persevering -

did come to recognize in the ensuing clarity, the quiet dignity of Thy peoplehood;
of what formlessness has made Thee as a form upon the earth - 

of what Spirit truly made thy citizenship utterly and completely thine.

And 

dedicated to the Principles Thou undertook at thy Birth
thou forsook the old in order to become the new 

and took on the name, America, the United.

And in thy bravery and in thy self-reliance 

and with all thy imperfections glaring, 

and with all thy hopes still shining

thou went to be thy Republic - 

From the fires of Yorktown

arose thy eagle wings!
---<--@



Guard thee thy remembrances well and in this faith persevere...
Lest we forget, lest we forget: This we'll defend: This Memorial Day 2013.

I. The Birthing

To Old Glory - an ode



Of all the colonies,
Thou alone were in spirit unbowed,
thy nationhood ever conceived in liberty,
by pilgrims seeking the simplicity of a freedom
that is not wearisome and a faith that is pure -

Ah,
thou wert a peculiar appearance upon the earth -
a root of the old world carried to the new!

Thou wert strangeness and beauty all at once.

Thou, a people called and a spirit arisen - 

amidst a thousand ancient nations, the very last;  

a new community sown upon the soil of the new

bound not of blood nor tribe nor earthly bonds

being a people called through waters of the spirit   

into a nation born of vision and nurtured in liberty,

the first in thy founding and the last to be found.

Thou, at thy Formation determined -

thy destiny lay in the care of the Providence of God 

and that thy peace is strength to overcome all adversity.

And 

in wisdom still lacking but with determination so rich

preserved by thy faith and in thy freedoms nurtured 

thou enjoined each thy generations in great earnest,
despite all the many things yet left uncertain to thee,

to the call and the labor of thy emergent nationhood.

Through times of peace, and through times of war, 

life and abundance came before thee to nourish thee

and the care of friends met thee at every crossroads

for thou wert blessed by the LORD with sure safety
setting thee aside to work a work of glory in His Name

even as tears and calamity followed thee in thy wake.

And 

thou numbered the days of thy youth in great measures 

as thou grew in wisdom and age and strength of years.

Spirit and Freedom were thy most ancient of names.

---<--@

Salutation #5

Freedom is to know freedom.



(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 inspires 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.
---<--@

(produced 20090629)

2012 is not an end!

When we speak about the end of the world
what is really meant is the end of the world as we know it

And the end of the world as we know it
has nothing to do with the world but with the passage of time.

It is the end of time as we know it.



2012 is not an end!

For there is no end,
only a return to the beginning;
only a transformation -
a necessary transformation,
a saving transformation.

Not a few people
may fear the approach of 2012.

But change is inevitable
so we must change to master change.

We are not powerless
over which life we choose to live,
everyday we enter into it
by the power of our choices.

Just the same -

We are not powerless
over which future we choose to live through,
as individuals - but even more so -
as whole communities of individuals,
we only have to enter into it
by the power of our lives.

So let us not fear 2012 - rather,
let us seek to understand it.

THINK about it.
---<--@

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)

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

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 #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.

Gaga Over Gaga

To ban or not to ban -

Freedom is all about
strengthening the right choices.

- selah -

An irresponsible kind of freedom
is an anathema to itself.

Indeed,
a person or a nation
who does not know freedom
shall certainly lose it.

Truly,
that constant striving 
for an authentic form of human freedom
is a common human need.

For the rough material
of our common freedoms
is like iron ore - that -
we must first allow into the fire
that we may as one nation
forge it into the steel of our liberty.

This is why
I've always been supportive about
a robust form of free expression
- for our nation -
because it exposes our freedom
to the task at hand.

It is not Lady Gaga's responsibility
to strengthen, temper and refine
free, open and honest thought
here in our own nation,
it is ours.

No matter
how vulgar or offensive
her own lyric and art may be,
(short of openly sowing evil
and willful divisions in our midst)
if we do not stand and face it
and learn to deal with it
as a free and human society
at any one time - under heaven,
freedom loses out.

This is why I am not for the ban.

- selah -

BUT if our prevailing freedom
- realistically and understandably -
is not yet ready for something
as radical as this one event,
then I am for the ban.

But only with the understanding
that in this age, we shall - as one nation -
be faced with other
serious challenges to our liberty
that may be even greater than this concert.

- selah -

All forms of truly human expression
has a rightful place and time in our Republic.

Therefore,
it is our responsibility
as a nation - together this time -
to make sure that both the right as well as the duty
to maintain and protect the existence of free expression
ever prevail within the climate of our democracy.

And thank you, Lady Gaga,
for giving us this teaching moment.
---<--@


Common Human Needs

Salutation #117

A citizen is not a citizen 

- if it were not for other citizens -

not unlike him or herself.

---<--@

(Focus)

NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT 

the evils of the present time 

may be allowed by the LORD, our King, to become,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise, 

as one Filipino nation, as one Republic undertaking,

there are only two ways we can go - 

two summits we can set our hearts upon -

two lineages we can willingly follow -

two visions we can from heaven obtain -

two freedoms we can humanly share -

two clocks we can live to abide by -

two destinies we can fight and die for.

And of the two -

only one is superior to the other,

only one is faithful to our keeping,

only one is real.

Focus determines the outcome.

People are poor 

- who have accepted -

the reality of being poor.

A nation is defeated 

- who have come to accept -

its own defeat.

Truly, truly, 

no nation can so thoroughly deplete the spirit 

and exhaust the will of another nation 

as completely as it can 

its own self!

Therefore, 

abide in thy fellowship 

as human beings and citizens to each other -

a keeper and friend:

Do not be too quick to judge,

do not expect rights you are not willing to give others,

do not rail against the humanity of others

while feigning ignorance of your own,

harbor neither hatred nor division in thy one heart of hearts,

and never ally thy own soul to the adulterous will of War

and assume evil against the nations of the children of Mankind

(for all nations, as they are purposed and made by God,
exists singularly for the LORD's own human causes
for reasons other than the triumph of evil).

Come into today!

We can not live on the past,

the past can not feed and shelter our people.

Neither can we live on our problems,

our troubles by themselves do not make us complete.

There is only the present...

And so -

IF we are complete in our remembrances

- the good in our every moment shall be complete -

and today shall be sufficient
for all our tomorrows.

Alleluia!
---<--@

Soul of Country

Salutation #116

Our world has changed and is still changing...



(Free Palestine!)

O people Palestine -

If it were but a simple choice,
would not our troubles we shall wave away
and shall not hope, at its soonest moment,
welcome us all home now, today.

But home now is nowhere to be found but here...

For what is home
but a certain togetherness, a particular belonging,
and a humanity which is complete?

Here is where we shall hope together
ever as those nations dreaming together this time.

Here,
apart from the darkness
which sees only in darkness
is where you are seen,
O beloved people Palestine,
as the rest of the world must soon see.

Here,
where thy own heart begins -
here is where all thy songs shall find again
their own rhythm and voice.

I shall never identify thee with War, O Palestine.

For I see you - as you are -
as the rest of the world must soon see.

You are a threat to none
but those who seek to harm thee.

And though I hope thy exile was over,
in truth, we are all exiles to this world,
and so we must live to belong together
and be bound by one dream of peace.

No one is to blame
for the presence of War
in the heart of our Asia -
the Middle East.

But everyone is to blame
for the absence of Peace
in the heart of our Asia -
the Middle East.

Therefore,
freedom for Palestine - the region!
And freedom for Palestine - the nation!

Peace for Palestine with Israel
at the heart of our Asia.

Peace for Palestine and Israel
at the heart of our Asia.
---<--@

From the deception, the division,
and the deterioration of War,
O LORD and God of all nations,
deign to deliver us in all thy nations.

AMEN.
---<--@


Support Palestinian Human and National Rights!

Salutation #91

The Ages of Country
is a measure of the maturity of our Republic;
a measure of the brightness of our national remembrance.

From emerging to developing to developed to mature to ascended,
the development of our Country through its natural ages in time (the first four ages)
and its perfection in Eternity (the fifth age) can be likened to a tree
growing upon our one earth - in a garden of many trees.

It is deliberately conceived as a more harmonious alternative
better suited to the unitive spirit of the times
than the implicitly divisive three worlds, one earth model
that projects a first, second, and third world.
---<--@

We shall be aiming precisely for the fourth age - a mature Republic.

(The Fourth Age)

I can not see our Country

as anything else but a mature democracy -

a work of the truly free:

A hardy shelter of peace,

with wings strong enough to embrace

the whole of our one Filipino nation

- from least to great and great to least -

and spirit mighty enough to carry our one Republic forth

- across the vast wilderness of exile time -

from generation to generation,

from strength to strength,

and from truth to truth,

till all things in time are begun again by God

at the summit of our common Ascent

and the beginning of all things new.

---<--@

Remembrance: The Ages of Country

Salutation #90

A Filipino is a kind of love and this love binds us together as one nation.

(Citizenship with Fidelity)

I believe in our people

- We, the Philippines -

every ethnic tribe

- that make us -

into one common community;

one lineage of hope,

7,107 islands strong!

And I recognize in myself

and in each of my compatriots,

the strength and the spirit

that bind us together

as one Filipino nation.
---<--@

I shall be obedient

- to my parents -

and faithful

- to my God -

that I may learn to love virtue

and the good of others.

For I shall strive

to be useful to my nation

and shall work hard

to bring honor and joy

to my family,

to my school,

to my teachers

and to my community.
---<--@

I shall always remember

the experiences of our history

that forged for our people,

one common destiny.

And I shall walk - forever -

in this remembrance,

deriving from

the sacred memory

of our heroes,

one common identity.
---<--@

I shall keep true

to my common identity -

it is the reality

upon which

is established

the sacred trust

that binds the lives,

the labors

and the fortunes

of all Filipinos

- together -

into one lineage of hope;

one common citizenry.

And I will honor this

- sacred trust -

and work to fulfill this hope

in myself as a citizen

of our Republic endeavor,

drawing from the same

unyielding strength

that have empowered

the labors

of every Filipino

of every generation.
---<--@

I will cherish and understand

our Republic endeavor -

it is the foundation

of our democratic processes

in the political,

social

and juridical institutions

and representative traditions

that maintain the good order

of our public peace

that shelter

and preserve

the life of our civil society.

And I shall maintain

a constant vigilance

over our democracy,

participating in the labors

that enrich and advance

the peace of our Republic,

seeking every means available,

to pursue the the common good

of our people

and realize

the eternal vision

of our nation

established in our Constitution.

---<--@

I shall be brave

in the defense

of our Republic peace

and preserve

with my honor

and my life,

the truth of our Constitution

and the life of our generations.

And so

I shall embrace - forever -

all of these duties that I owe

to that undying dream

of freedom for myself

and for all Filipinos

being willing to freely

and humanly carry them out,

with much faith in God

and steadfast trust

in our Country,

kindled forever

like a flame in my heart

and in the hearts

of all my Filipino compatriots -
from always to always.
---<--@

Salutation #88

Free inquiry is a civic virtue,

it is a strength of ours to be able to think as a nation!

So we must each cultivate good habits of the mind -

the ability to think about our thinking.

My brother and sister Filipino -

are we not a free nation upon this world?

(Question Everything)

In a democracy, question everything.

Democracy is not an answer, it is a path.

We are a work of human liberty

reaching out to the only other Freedom

reaching out to us - across the void -

the perfection of God,

the unity of the LORD;

our one God and true King!

We are one ascent to the Truth -

a Country made whole by the justice of our peace;

a peace made one by our common desire to be happy.

So have a thirst, O soul of my people,

have a thirst for every true thing under heaven.

Never stop longing - not just for good things -

but for great things - truly great things!

- selah -

We exist in a world so full of longing.

There is longing in our world

because there is an emptiness in the self.

There is a constant seeking for answers.

We can never really know anything unless we ask

and those who have come to know something

- have come to their own knowledge -

not by a perfect understanding of the answers

but by an imperfect understanding

of the questions one ought to know about.

For there are questions we must ask,

there are questions we must learn to ask,

and there are questions we must never ask.

- selah -

In a democracy, question everything.

(That is, validate them in yourselves.)

Democracy is not an answer, it is a path.

---<--@

Think about it -

"And I tell you,

ask and you will receive;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door

will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives;

and the one who seeks, finds;

and to the one who knocks,

the door will be opened."

(Luke 11: 9-10)

Now, if you know the Kama Sutra

more than the Kalama Sutra -

its time to start thinking!

Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing,

nor upon tradition,

nor upon rumor,

nor upon what is in a scripture,

nor upon surmise,

nor upon an axiom,

nor upon specious reasoning,

nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over,

nor upon another's seeming ability,

nor upon the consideration, "The monk is our teacher."

Kalamas, when you yourselves know:

"These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness," enter on and abide in them.

- The Buddha, Kalama Sutra