Towards the Morn

The journey of a thousand years

begins with just one day - and that day is today.

Towards the morn, O ye nations,

towards that awakening dawn!

Towards the peace, O ye peoples,

towards the twilight of the new!

Towards the LORD, O ye numberless stars,

towards that promise made of old!

Towards the Light, all ye living lights

away from the darkness,

where all our roads,

lead back to you, Jerusalem.

---<--@

Salutation #56

If I say "yes" to Israel and "no" to Palestine

then I only promote the division that will eventually consume both...

Its like saying yes without really meaning it.

When you say "yes" to Peace,

you do not say "yes" to War as well.

(Shining as the Stars)

The peace in the Philippines

and the peace in the Middle East

are equally important.

Each is connected to the success of the other.

They go in sequence.

For us Filipinos, Peace must be won here first.

For we can not shine as one nation with skies divided by War.

Winning the peace here

adds to the strength of winning the peace

in our ASEAN and outward

shining as the stars into Jerusalem

at the heart of our Asia, the Middle East.

So be guided: Do not be confused.

The peace in the Philippines

and the peace in the Middle East

are intertwined, within as well as without.

One can not prosper without the other.

Each one forms the other to become one whole sky.

So if we love one, we must also love the other.

In the former, we secure the blessings of unity for our nation.

In the latter, we secure the blessings of unity for our one family of nations.

Indeed,

we must shine for peace

and if it does not happen today

when?

---<--@

It is human to fight for love. It is not human to fight for hate. For when we fight for love, we defend. When we fight for hate, we only fight.

---<--@

Mabuhay po tayong lahat! Peace. Salaam. Shalom. God bless us all.

The Peace of the Brotherhood of Mankind

Breaking the Siege

20110923

Towards the morn, O ye nations,
towards that awakening dawn!

Towards the peace, O ye peoples,
towards the twilight of the new!

Towards the LORD, O ye numberless stars,
towards that promise made of old!

Towards the Light, all ye living lights
away from the darkness,
where all our roads,
lead back to you, Jerusalem.

The September 23 Palestinian Initiative

Today is September 23. I am well aware of the prominence of this date in the context of the Middle East Peace process of which I am an ardent advocate.

Today, I am anxious. I am not anxious in a sense that I am afraid. I am anxious in the sense that I am expectant. I feel I can not be anything else. I am praying for a break in the doldrums. I am expecting for the slightest bit of forward movement.

I am hoping for even a few people to chose peace in the Middle East.

I am praying for Abu Mazen and for Benjamin Netenyahu. I am praying for President Obama. I am praying for President Sarkozy whose solution to the deadlock I feel closely matches what I have in mind.

I am praying for the representation of my own Republic in the United Nations and for all notable nations who are represented there not to be confused by this seemingly intractable divide.

For the heavens above us have no division save for the divisions in the mind of Man. This is also true of the Middle East Peace.

The confrontation that is to happen today in the United Nations between the two sides is going to be very difficult.

It shall be fraught with deep and profound emotions supported by histories going back centuries. And these histories shall often be expressed in a form that appear outwardly prejudicial for they shall never be perceived by any nation in and of itself to run parallel to the unified experience of the United Nations.

Indeed, it is for this reason that the spirit of the Council stands; to reconcile human history to itself so that War shall be forever denied a place on our earth.

Nothing of good and lasting worth for any Country can ever be said to have been cheaply won. Everything we hold dear to our sacred remembrances as individual nations upon this world of earth and fire can not be said to have been so easily obtained by our generations.

So it goes as well for the hope we all must invest in the peace between Israel and Palestine and maybe even more because of the sheer difficulty of it all. Indeed, this dream of peace must be a wonder worth seeing unto its very fulfillment. It must be something worth standing for.

Having said all this and having considered the bravery inherent in this undertaking of peace as a whole as well as the virtues God has so generously invested and showered on all sides of our one human family, I shall now personally conclude that at the end of this day, September 23, 2011, if even a few people gets absolutely convinced of the need for Peace over War in our world especially between Israel and Palestine, then I feel that all this expectation is worth it.

Because it is for the individual to heal the wounds of the nations and the nations for the healing of the wounds of our failing world.

---<--@

Epilogue: Georgia vs. Troy Davis

Despite protests, the State of Georgia carried out the execution of Troy Davis. The US Supreme Court decided not to intervene.

The story can not end here though. Because even now, the doubt still lingers and the hope still stands.

Because if it were that an innocent man was sent to his death by the justice of the state to atone for the death of another innocent man, then the death penalty ceases to become an instrument of justice and becomes an instrument of injustice.

It is easily taken for granted that innocence is like a feather and guilt is like a brick and that such is the easy appearance of things always disinclined against the person of the accused.

Yet in a criminal case, when life is pitted against life, the person of the accused and the person of the victim when measured, each against the other, on the scales of justice measure equally.

For in our justice system, the feather and the brick must suppose no weight in and of themselves at the beginning of every criminal trial.

The prosecution must prove weight. The defense must seek to dismiss it. And the bench always bear in mind and heart in the singular interest of justice that these appearances matter.

In the case of Troy Davis, conscience is compelled by the peculiarities of his appeal to re-examine the case from the beginning of the trial where innocence is presumed until guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt.

It may lead many to a re-examination of capital punishment in the United States.

---<--@

Peace is not an end to our battles but the beginning of our winning them.

---<--@

Mabuhay po tayong lahat! God bless all His nations of the one family of the nations of the children of Mankind.

Breaking the Siege

Healing Work

20110921

On Capital Punishment and the Case of Troy Davis

This article on Yahoo News caught my eye -

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in the State of Georgia on Wednesday 7pm US Eastern Time.

The problem is there is an overwhelming upsurge of public sentiment to - at the very least - postpone capital punishment in the light of new developments in support of his case for the defense.

The prosecution is adamant. The defense is making last minute appeals. The public is becoming more and more anxiously divided on the issue.

But both the prosecution and the defense are integral elements of a justice system that must subscribe to unifying principles that safeguard a court's ability to preserve the peace of the state.

One of these principles are - the innocent must never be punished with the guilty.

My instant reaction is to agree with a suspension of the sentence. It is also the natural reaction of many other notable people including my Holy Father Benedict XVI.

I am a Roman Catholic Christian in private as well as in public. My faith has a lot to do with every aspect of my little life, its true - because if I had remained in my sin, if I had no Savior, I would not be speaking sense to you today.

It would be a grave miscarriage of justice if the court gives in to anger or the spirit of revenge or allow itself to become drawn into any political divisions that, having no place whatsoever in the consideration of these things, further deny the State and the community of the people their natural recourse to the remedy of law.

No one would deny justice to the victims and their families. Let there be no doubt that the causes of both Justice and Law serves their grievances first and foremost.

But to prevent the community from reaping further grief from what seems to be a reasonable doubt looming against the cause of justice, one must prove right to make this appeal to the government of Georgia to intervene and not make this doubt a permanent motion that would, in the interests of narrow-minded expediency, remove the peace of that State of the Union further away from the public trust.

And so I too find myself making this same appeal for the authorities in Georgia to intervene to suspend the execution of Troy Davis.

If the person is innocent and he is delivered to God guilty, the burden no longer lies with the innocent but with the community who condemn themselves with their blood.

This shall not go without repercussions.

Indeed, all human care and all legal means must be exhausted beyond reasonable doubt to make sure that the innocent is never punished with the guilty.

That the guilty should be punished without delay is a corollary of this first principle.

This is why capital punishment is never a remedy for failing to address the failures in the justice system of any nation - most of all, here in my native Philippines.

God bless the State of Georgia, God bless America and may the LORD prosper thy Republic that justice prevail for all thy peoples unto the last of their generations.

---<--@

Some more considerations on the Middle East Peace -

I reaffirm this once again. We must fully support President Obama's initiative to bring back on track the Middle East peace process. The political peace (distinct from the national peace) has the best chance of achieving itself under his watch.

It should be recognized that the protection of the Jewish-Majority nature of the undertaking of Country known as modern Israel is essential to preserve that Country's ability to decisively preempt another Holocaust and to defend the rights of the whole nation of Israel at home or abroad.

I say Jewish-Majority here because of the fact that in any undertaking of Country, there shall always be a minority and for this reason, the majority can not rule without justice and this justice is impossible if the minority of any undertaking of Country is not given full recognition as well as equal protection before the law. This must also be recognized.

Furthermore, the same exact thing must be expected of the nascent Palestinian undertaking of Country.

As a matter of fact, the 4th Cause applies to every undertaking of Country that draws its breath from the spirit of its own nation.

In this sense, Israel and Palestine shall be reciprocating unto each other greater and greater examples founded on good will instead of those descending cycles of ill will that have plagued and confused their peoples for a generation.

It must be conceded by both the State of modern Israel and the Palestinian Authority that the deadlock in the Middle East (along with whatever reasons, covert or overt, that have given this conflict the appearance of justice) can no longer be sustained in this new age.

Both nations must cross the Minimum of the Times - stop looking backward - and complete their remembrances under this present season of heaven.

There can be no other choice that will secure the long-term national success for both the nations of Israel and of Palestine than to make the choice for peace today while it is still today.

For peace is the craft of nations.

Both sides must be given an honorable exit strategy and an honest and dependable way of return for their common peoples out of this untenable state of division and away into unity and the promise of the new age...

that Peace may proceed from Jerusalem and good will spring up from the heart of our Asia to bring down from God in heaven the blessings of this new age for all our nations dreaming together of a better world for our common humanity, alelluia.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Blindness

Salutation #52

O most beneficent LORD

and one God of all creation,

rekindle in the hearts of Thy nations

the desire for meaningful peace.

(To the Philippine Representation to the United Nations as Regards the Palestinian Initiative on September 23)

Mabuhay!

Peace, I salute you.

I bid you to act with caution.

Allow not the noble ideals of our young Republic

to get drawn into the invisible but all too real gravity

of the subtle spiritual division that exists

between Israel and Palestine.

Take no sides but the side of peace.

And the peace that takes no side but the peace;

belonging to God first and from the unity of LORD

unto the brotherhood of the nations

embracing all to the last.

Say the peace

- implicitly or explicitly -

of the one people of the Philippines

to Israel and to Palestine both.

Do not take your focus away

from both these kindred and most beloved nations

- especially in the lead up to September 23 -

and always see them as Nations first;

apart from the Common Market,

apart from the Responsible State.

Speak only for the people,

act only to address their needs,

and always be mindful in thy soul of County

of the cause for which nations exist upon this earth.

Listen to the plight of the Palestinians

and be aware of the frustrations of that nation.

Acknowledge their nationhood - first and foremost -

and the cause for which they now stand together;

recognize from the needs of our own nation

the justice it demands and the peace it requires.

Stand with them in their hour of need.

Listen to the anxieties of Israel

and be aware of the realities of their concerns.

See through 2000 years of tragedy and expectation

and place yourself beyond all that shall undoubtedly be said

- into the heart of the matter -

indeed, you must come alive to their remembrance;

make sure the nation Israel does not stand alone.

Be wary of the spirit of War

who will seek to impose upon thy reason

- by any means available to it -

its will of division

causing you to set aside the peace

for which our United Nations is founded.

Proceed from unity; speak from unity;

deliberate with unity in mind; listen with unity in mind;

provide counsel only with unity in thy heart;

act only within its bounds.

With much tenacity, courage and wisdom,

deny the spirit of War a foothold

- at least as far as our Republic may -

in that august body established

for the defense of the prevailing peace

of the one family of the nations of Mankind.

My prayers,

the prayers of all people of good will in our Country

and surely, from all the many other Countries,

spread upon their own spheres of responsibility

in this one world of ours so needful of peace,

shall be with you, Ambassador,

and with you all.

---<--@

Now is the time to stop living on our problems and begin working together toward solutions. To be able to do this, we must be able to build on agreements.

So let us make the way of our hearts clear. Let us cast off the spirit of division and break the rule of War from within ourselves. For peace has to start somewhere.

Finally, whose "side" are you on anyway?

A lot of people say, "I support Israel."

A lot of people say, "I support Palestine."

Not a lot of people say, "I support Peace."

Well, I do.

Why?

Because I love both those nations, don't you?

---<--@

Mabuhay po kayong dalawa kapatid na Israel and kapatid na Palestine! Long may our remembrance serve us. God bless us all.

The Peace of the Brotherhood of Mankind

20110916

Salutation #50

Who is responsible for the presence of War in the Middle East? No one.

Who is responsible for the absence of Peace in the Middle East? Everyone.

(Breaking the Siege in the Middle East)

Something looms in the distance

like a sword poised to strike;

there is a foreboding in the horizon

and if feels like a thousand nights

over the heart of our Asia -

- selah -

I cry out to God in Eternity -

to the LORD before the assembly of the nations!

Let there be peace upon our failing earth

and the glory of God restored in Jerusalem.

The two most important nations in that region

- Israel and Palestine -

must turn toward each other in peace.

For Israel is a nation; ancient and troubled.

And Palestine too; young and anxious.

Thou both are defined by thy need for justice.

Thou both are endowed with rights - as nations -

to pursue thy own course of peace and self-determination.

But not in the spirit of War and the darkness of division

shall any of thee hope to achieve this!

For no matter how bitter or painful the past

thou both have given birth to each other's present hopes.

O Israel and Palestine!

Do not rely on anything else

but the work of prospering thy present hopes

- thy common human hopes -

as nations dreaming together this time.

Not in names or affiliations made of mere words

not in empty appearances of power or wealth or titles

but in the labor set before thy heart by the LORD thy God

that He may prosper thee in each thy labors of Country

as peoples bound together in the freedom of thy gifts;

a lineage of victory before the LORD!

Each thy undertaking of Country,

may it be separate and distinct or singular and united,

is in reality joined together - so intimately -

that to distinguish between the two is difficult.

Especially Jerusalem which cannot be divided.

Yet the whole region cries out for unity!

This is the truth that they fight against;

those who speak peace but listen not to the plight of Jerusalem.

For peace is in not in their hearts.

Let the whole region speak to Mankind of unity!

Alelluia, Jerusalem is the City of the LORD's Peace.

Jerusalem is the City of the LORD's Peace.

This is the strength that they are so willing to renounce.

They whose hearts stand permanently divided

against our common humanity before God.

They who have chosen to harbor War in the heart.

For instead of rejoicing, they weep.

Instead of overcoming, they are overcome.

With bitter tears, they prepare for war,

and plunge their communities into the darkness.

The youth are brought up in division,

the men, the women,

they learn to call it by whatever name;

all are turned away from the LORD.

Yet peace reaches out to thee, O ye peoples,

for the faithfulness of the LORD is steadfast and true.

Rely on God and trust in the LORD - I bid thee -

O beloved Israel, O beloved Palestine - O ye peoples -

listen to the calling of the times!

Let the Peace of the LORD reign in Jerusalem

and let the glory of God shine forth from Jerusalem to Asia

and from Asia to the world.

- selah -

By the end of next year, 2012,

the choice for peace will no longer be a choice.

War will be let loose and the world shall descend

into another age of conflict.

What good are riches or the anger of Man

in the midst of the relentless hatred of War?

War will not distinguish between human being and human being.

For the beast of War seeks the annihilation of all.

The spirit of War will march to undo the nations - from each to each -

and seek to devour its ward to the last of its generations.

How will our times be remembered?

What will our posterity say of these present generations

who left for them a desolation?

O Israel and Palestine -

thou brothers, make peace!

Is thy long-suffering impotent?

Let it bear fruit therefore,

and let the nations follow thee

into brotherhood, into peace.

Hear me O Israel!

Hear me O Palestine!

You are loved - both of you.

Together thou art loved as twins.

May Peace prevail in our Asia

and may God bless all our nations

from Israel to the Philippines

from Siberia (Russia) to Indonesia

and from Asia to our needful world -

let this peace be for us a season

to bring rest and healing to our world

and blessings unto all Mankind.

---<--@

On Jerusalem -

If any of us wants a proper place to begin building on an understanding of the spirit of the times, one must think about the plight of Jerusalem.

I have previously advanced the concept of Strategic Secondary Capitals specifically for the sake of Jerusalem. Israel wants her. Palestine wants her.

Yet none for truly peaceful reasons. For both desire Jerusalem - zealously - but to the exclusion of the other and by extension, the rest of the nations of the world.

Why should the spirit of War be allowed to dwell in the hearts of the citizens of Zion and obscure the unity that is its living light?

Accept the will of the LORD as is. Accept Jerusalem as is. Truly, God has designs of brotherhood and repentance upon His City. Let Jerusalem be the City of the LORD's Peace for all the nations!

We can no longer abide with divided hearts and hope to enter into the promise of the new age. This may only become more and more evident as we enter into this century. The Middle East peace process is a symbol of this struggle to obtain from God a new unity of spirit and heart for all Mankind.

The real test of these times is the recognition of our common humanity before the LORD and a return of our nations to their rightful tasks of building up the inhabited earth as the one covenant family of the nations of the children of Mankind.

Each of us - especially the stars of our Father Abraham - is called to break free of the gravity of the last great age of War and become for each other the hope of the last 2000 years.

Peace must be desired and desired absolutely - especially in Jerusalem.

In a divided world, we should not concern ourselves with the lives of other nations. The question is - do we live in a divided world?

"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy." (Psalm 137: 5-6)

---<--@

God bless Israel and God bless Palestine, mabuhay! Long may our remembrance serve thee.

Breaking the Siege

War in the Heart

20110904

Sunday Evenings

Good evening, Philippines - mabuhay!

Well, we're four days into the first of the four "ber" months. If you are familiar with this, you are Filipino. We have the longest Christmas season ever!

We are indeed, a people of expectations, are we not? It's true. And we have every right to have these expectations. It is a reflection of our hope for better things and for better days.

If there is a reason why we are a people upon the earth, it is these hopes. And we keep these hopes close to us every Yuletide season because Peace is the reason for the Christmas season. And this has been so since that first Christmas day 2011 years ago.

The Angels say so and we now know so - Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace!

I do not expect this will change.

Now, I want us to remember this - here and now - because Christmas 2011 is the Christmas before Christmas 2012. Peace is the reason for every Christmas season!

- selah -

My brothers and sisters in Christ the Lord, let us work to make this Christmas 2011 a very good one - for all our nations. Most especially, let us pray God bless the Holy Land with Peace.

Let us extend our hearts and our hands to those who are affected by the presence of War here in our own Country and everywhere, especially in the Middle East.

If any of you can make the pilgrimage to Bethlehem this Christmas, please do so. And do not forget to go to Jerusalem and pray God bless our world with Peace.

So let us work for all of this as we continue on - together - right into the new working week... Everybody have a great week ahead!

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Christmas Greetings!

Peace among the nations.

Good will to all men and women of peace.

Please see our monthly challenge for the month of September - click here.

Salutation #18

(On Iran in the context of the Middle East Peace)

To all our national communities, Peace.

I do not see the threat coming from Iran.

I see the threat coming from the perception of a threat coming from Iran.

Whether one may be reacting to this threat

as in the US or Israel,

or one may be inadvertently projecting this threat

as in the State of Iran,

it will make no difference to any party

as long as it feeds the perception.

The face of the Dragon of War seem veiled

- for a time -

but once the threshold is crossed

and War is let loose in our midst, O ye nations -

will it matter to any of us then

what its chosen pretense may have been?

When we shall be left to behold the face of the Dragon

and our world descends yet again into another age of turmoil

will it matter to any of us then, O ye nations,

as the maddening darkness engulfs our generations,

what choice lie it sold to our hearts?

When the sign appears, it shall be too late.

- selah -

War is a creature of deception.

The perception itself serves the spirit of War

and War serves no nation.

This perception having been built and solidified

by years and years of division

is the gravity that might pull that embattled region

or worse,

our needful world

back into a new age of conflict

and reap for our generations the pent-up rage

of 2000 years of War.

It can only be counteracted by undoing what harm

years and years of miscommunication and mistrust

have created in and between the parties concerned -

the affected nations and their Responsible States.

Something that the politics of any side

seem averse at doing at this time,

or worse incapable.

My honorable compatriots,

that whole region is aching for a change

and I am becoming more and more convinced

that this change may only be effected

as a person to person, people to people transition

from national attitudes ranging from either ignorance and/or indifference

to one of a total commitment to peace and authentic human community -

from star to star, one whole sky.

If we shall continue on with determination with the path of peace,

here in our nation and here in our region

and especially

in the context of the Middle East peace,

between Israel and the Palestinians,

I am personally convinced that this perception of a threat

will eventually undo itself -

to the benefit of all.

But if we allow ourselves

and consequently,

our one family of nations

to be strategically directed by this perception,

it shall eventually lead that embattled region

to a place it does not want to be -

to the regret of all.

My fellow Filipino compatriots,

I believe all nations of our one family have a stake

at ensuring a viable option does exist for that embattled region -

the choice of a meaningful, sustainable, durable peace.

Hence, it is important that we are able to preserve this peace in ourselves.

It is vital that we can hold on to its vision

of a better, kinder, brighter world for all nations

even as it directly relates to us here in the Philippines.

Therefore, it is just as important

that we are able to make a committed and principled stand

on matters directly affecting it (such as Iran)

and the region (Middle East Asia, specifically Jerusalem)

central to our attaining it.

For this reason, I have thought to share with you

my own opinion regarding the matter.

I suggest you think about it, pray about it,

and even share it (as well as your own opinions) amongst yourselves

(or with me - for I am one of you).

Be concerned about matters of the peace -

in our nation, in our region, in the Middle East, and in our world.

Our world is in a perilous state

and though calamity might seem distant to many of us

here in our own Country,

when it arrives, it shall come to claim our nation

and all those communities under its wing

- quickly -

and shall neither relent nor discern

between rich, poor, young, old, male or female

of any creed, family or tribal affiliation.

For War is a devourer of peoples.

Peace is the key to a better world.

Not the false peace of the age that is past,

nor appeasement in any sense -

Peace as a paradigm whole, O my nations,

which is peace rightfully understood -

the necessary peace that prospers, O my people,

the belonging that preserves our generations.

---<--@

Terrorism is a crime not a cause.

---<--@

Mabuhay po tayong lahat! Long may our remembrances serve us. God bless all our nations.

War in the Heart

20110322

A Prayer for Peace

LORD God,
we adore Thee
and we bless Thee!

O most beneficent LORD
and one God of all creation,
rekindle in the hearts of Thy nations
the desire for meaningful peace.

Come, O LORD,
abide with needful Mankind
be again the God of our families and of our lands
reclaim Thy right as our one Sovereign
that loving hearts and willing hands
may learn the ways of Thy grace
and thy faithful bring down from heaven
the blessings of Thy most precious Peace.

Forsake us not, dear LORD
but with Thy holy angels lead us
away from the darkness of our times
and into the Light of Thy Countenance
that all the peoples of needful Mankind
may come to a holy remembrance of Thee
and that we may as one firmament shine
ever like the numberless stars
that you promised of old
to our holy Patriarch Abraham.



May kindred Palestine and elder Israel,
each in You, O LORD God,
become a light unto all nations
shining with Thy numberless stars
cast upon Thy one firmament
across the unfeeling darkness
of this midnight of war
as a warmth to each other
and a guide to all mankind.

AMEN.

---<-@

O ISRAEL, you are the cradle of our peace,
a nation destined to bless the other nations
with a knowledge of life and the Everliving.
The first people chosen by Almighty God
to bring the light of hope to our poor world.

What has become of us my elder brethren?

Thy terrible hurt, due to war's ambition
shall one day turn into strength, if only
we begin today to become that hope again
the hope of our Father Abraham, a promise
to bless the communities of Mankind, peace.

As I love my Annelies Marie, I love you.
But not the War, O people Israel, only you.
Not the hatred, O kindred grace, only you.
---<--@

Jerusalem, Remembered

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

should the City of our LORD's Peace

be a hindrance to it?

If the ageless realms

of the unseen reality had a center,

it would be in thee, O Jerusalem.

O City beholden of old,

hearken to thy own virtue!

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

arise in God, arise in God,

why should War ever be found

laying its filthy hand on thee?

O my dear people - come,
and know this, here and now -

the rightful ownership of this city

may sometimes elude us, in exile time,

but this is only because of intentions,

born of a will and a purpose divine,

higher and more kinder than our own,

as a mystery shrouded in hope

being embraced by the substance of things

outside the scope of our understanding:

The protection of the peace

and the primary defense of this city,

where there is any question,

belong to the common good will

of both the nation of elder Israel

and the emerging Palestinian nation:

Jews, Christians and Muslims together.

Because my beloved people,

it is here in our Jerusalem

where these - two nations of old,

brought together by a promise not forgot,

shall learn the ways of God's Peace

and shall put behind them

the darkness of the midnight past

forever.

So pray, my dear people,

arise in God, arise in God - and -

always keep true to each other's good

all ye numberless Stars of old!

And ponder this in thy hearts -

wrestling with a new sense of hope

born of things rekindled

deep in the faith of thy soul

ceaselessly asking the LORD to bless us

until all of the generations of life

in each our kindred nations

have become blessed by God
with a sustainable, meaningful

and lasting peace.

---<--@

The one Code



REMAIN TRUE -
to our peerless LORD
to the one God
of our Father Abraham,
the one common Creator
of all common creation,
seen and unseen.

To your own sacred remembrances
and the memory of your peace
with God and with each other.

To the overcoming of your War
and the advent of your hope
at the dawn of our new dreaming
as nations together.

To thy own universe within
and to the riches therewith
those treasures that
neither thief nor tyrant
can deprive.

To thy own calling
to serve in the way
of virtue and of peace
and to thy own ascent
upon the one mountain path
whereupon all good things
find their meaning and merit
in the prayer of the heart.

To thy own labors
upon this necessary life
and to the hardships also
that this inhabited earth brings -
May you be satisfied
knowing in your heart
what you truly strive for.

To thy own endeavor of Country
and to the trust of thy own nation
may you embrace with your embracing
these wholes upon wholes
as far and as wide as you could
and with courage
and steadfast persistence
bring all your love
as near as it takes you
to the one Love
that unifies us all
with the one LORD of All.

To our Lord's poor
and to each other
as keeper and as friend -

May we all remain faithful
from always to always
until the final gathering
at the end of days
and the beginning
of all things new.
---<--@

My fellow Filipino compatriots, the Israeli-Palestinian/Palestinian-Israeli conflict is like two brothers fighting inside a burning house. Both of them are fighting for the inheritance of the house. Neither of them remember that their real inheritance is each other.

The roots of War is ancient. Therefore, War was never a choice that can be made freely by any nation as itself. The real choice all our nations must always make - in every generation, and in every present time - is peace.

So let this be our choice - let our freedom be always guided by it.

For amidst the mounting troubles of this world, we must never forget that we all have a stake in the Middle East Peace.

Mabuhay po tayong lahat. God bless us all.


War in the Heart

20110103

2011



2011 is the year before 2012. This year is going to be a defining year in the life of our nation. It is a year of choices. It is a year of much work, within as well as without.

I am letting you know all this at the very beginning of this year, my fellow Filipino compatriots, so that we may all know in our heart of hearts by the end of this year how blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: Mapalad ang Bayan na ang Diyos ay ang Panginoon.

God has remembered us, O my nation!

Therefore, our hearts stir for a remembrance of Him and of each other in Him. God loves us and we are come to a knowledge of love. Therefore, if we love the LORD, for He is but one God alone, we shall work for peace in our hearts, in our lives, in our communities, and in our world.

It all begins here in the You and I.

Verily, we can not share with other nations, either through word or deed, what we ourselves do not possess as a nation.

If we truly love those other kindred nations, we must achieve peace for ourselves first. So let us work to dispel all forms of prejudices and misconceptions about us and learn to re-discover once more what is right about ourselves - together this time.

If we are to be able to look out to their suffering peoples with much truthfulness and meritorious compassion, then we must learn to understand how to break the rule of war in our own hearts first.

Therefore, we must come to a knowledge of peace that we may by our willingness be as a light to other nations; the light that God would have all nations to be for each other.



Indeed, we must complete our remembrances by the end of this year*. Our focus, being citizens of the one Republic of the Philippines, shall be the peace here in our own nation AND the peace in the Middle East. And I enjoin all citizens of all other nations who are likewise inclined to focus on their own peace processes AND the peace in the Middle East.

Therefore, my fellow Filipino compatriots, let us put peace - rightly understood - at the forefront of our national awareness. Let us make this year THE year for peace. And let us follow through our convictions with concrete moral and civic action.

Lastly, let us fear inaction and complacency. For we can not choose to remain lukewarm. Nor can we stay in the deepening darkness of these midnight times.

Let us engage the darkness; put out into the deep.

The time for peace is now. Today is the favorable season.

This is our time.
---<--@

The Question -

An angel asked me, "...and what do I love, O heart?" For I longed to know.

It led me to a shop and showed me a thing I desired for myself but could not yet afford. Something I knew I knew but did not really think about that much.

"I love all these things that you love, O heart, that leads you to be good", the angel said to me.

"I love all the good clothes that was made for you, I love the cell phone that you'd so wished for so much, oh and that laptop - I love that as well - for you, O heart."

"So how do you love me in return?" The angel's question seem to echo from deep into my being for the lesson has now penetrated me indelibly right into my heart.

There was silence:

"You shall love the LORD thy God as one LORD alone".

"Make peace with the all of creation. Divide it not. Say peace to the river, to the sky, to the earth, to the animals (and the trees) of the earth and the fishes of the seas, to thy nations good will and to all thy fellow human beings, life and abundance. Do this if you love me."
---<--@

Towards the morn, O ye nations,
towards that awakening dawn!
Towards the peace, O ye peoples,
towards the twilight of the new!
Towards the LORD, O ye numberless stars,
towards that promise made of old!
Towards the Light, all ye living lights
away from the darkness,
where all our roads,
lead back to you, Jerusalem.

A blessed and meaningful 2011 to all. May this year bring forth the blessings of peace to our nation and prosperity to our families.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.


Revelation 12: 7-9

Salutation to the Holy Angels

I salute all the angels of God!
From the least to the greatest -
I salute all the angels of God!
From the highest of Seraphim
to the guardians of the souls of men.
I acknowledge your unseen presence
with due respect to the unseen reality
that hold back the assault of demons
in our poor world and in my poor life.

I salute all the angels of God!
To the angels of my enemies,
to the angels of my friends,
as well as those of my family,
above all to my guardian dear,
my own angel, faithful and true -
who have known me from eternity;
who came to this world at my birth;
who shall fly me away at my passing.
May God's grace see us through evil
with bonds strong against temptation.
May God bless and purify our friendship
into an union of love that will last forever.

I give thanks and adoration to God
For all the angelic hosts of the LORD.
For the battles they fight
and the victory they proclaim
under the banner of the Lamb,
the leadership of Michael,
and the Queenship of Mary,
by the power of God,
on behalf of suffering mankind.

To the most high and sovereign God
who rules all true things
seen and unseen
and turns all things to good
for those who love and fear Him
may glory, honor and praise belong
forever and ever.

AMEN.

*the time for the completion of our remembrances is till the close of 2012. To be honest with you, I deliberately made it early here to make sure we make it on time - 20110723.