Gaza

The desolation of Gaza

Gaza. Gaza is a victim. Trodden ground. Trampled people. Gaza is bleeding. Crying out. In the silence. Afraid.

She is afraid of HAMAS. She is afraid of Israel. So Gaza weeps. As the media puts words in her mouth. True and untrue. Regardless. Gaza weeps. And she bleeds.

Her children are crying. Their future is dying. But the war is louder. A beast has her in its grip. Why is no one fighting for her precious ones?

Death? Life? In the middle is Gaza. In the middle Dying. Trodden ground. Trampled people. Crying out in the silence. Afraid.
---<--@

I love the inhabitants of the Holy Land. Absolutely. Relentlessly. I love them all with a singleness of heart.

I realize there are nations in that region. And that the region itself is under siege by the domination of war. So I do not like to choose sides.

I hate playing one nation against the other. It is easy to do. That is why it is wrong. For the same reason hatred is wrong. Hatred must choose a side.

Love holds to no sides. And love is hard. Compassion is difficult in the midst of conflict. But entirely worth it. For hatred produces nothing, leads to nothing, is nothing. In love, everything finds itself again.

So all this wounding is painful indeed. But the hatred that feeds it is a fire that will be extinguished by its own need to burn brightly.

It does not matter the sides. Love is eternal. Unity is eternal.
---<--@

HAMAS started this conflict. HAMAS has no business launching rockets into Israel. Nations can not be destroyed from the outside. What for is this being done? It has stirred up a hornet's nest.

Neither HAMAS nor Israel has total control of the situation. War has taken control of the situation. Everything is being drawn into its gravity.

Therefore -

Honor the truce. Dictate one condition: Alleviate suffering Gaza.

Wrest some control back from the main enemy. From the war itself.

Set the end conditions. Begin to contain the conflict. Be reminded of thy common stewardship of the region and of its fledgling tomorrow. Draw it near.

Fight your battles. But leave the common people out of it.
---<--@

Our world is a fragile, beautiful world. It instantly turns to dust and ashes when we disagree. Our world is a beautiful world. It is vision. Can you see?

Let us build. Though at times we disagree on how. Let us have vision. Our place in this world is here. And it is also there. Let us believe. Let us build it. Can we?

What we sow in questions, after we have partaken of the seasonal harvests of understanding, we reap in more questions. What kind of a world do you believe in? 

What do you see, darling Starshine?
---<--@

Let us from all nations and all faiths hope, work, and pray together
for meaningful, equitable, durable Peace in the Middle East.

Salaam. Shalom. Peace. Mabuhay po tayong lahat.

A Renewal of Hope

I love you, Holy Father Francis

May thoughts of Peace grow in the Middle East.

Saint John Paul II, pray for us and for peace in our world.
Saint John XXIII, pray for us and for peace in our world.

Salutation #188

Crafting a new order in the Middle East
requires the Nations of the Children of Mankind
to return to their deepest spiritual roots -
to the fundamental Human, Angelic,
as well as Divine purposes
for each of our Emergence in Time -
as a Family of Nations upon this world:
Peace, Good Will and the Building up 
of the Inhabited Earth.


Pursue peace and pursue it absolutely.

In commemoration of the outpouring of humanitarian aid and assistance to my Nation by the many Nations in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) - "Salamat po at mabuhay po tayong lahat nang mga Bansa ng mga Anak ng Sangkatauhan!" 

(Greater Israel)

Thou art a people, Israel -
before all things, before thou wert,
thou wert a Nation raised by the LORD!

At the Gates of Eden, thou wert!
Before the long march of exiled humanity,
thou wert a Nation among Nations, chosen.

In thy spirit, thou art a lineage -
born of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob -
a people united by the faithfulness of the LORD.

O beloved Israel, thou wert -
the first of the Nations of the Children

delivered from weakness unto strength in God.

Remember, thou wert - O Israel -

the first to know of the Truth of the LORD -

that God delivers, God provides, and God saves -

that all Nations may come to a knowledge of Peace.

---<--@

Personal Reflection:

All Nations are a people first. 

I too believe in a dream of a Greater Israel - Eretz Israel.

But the dream that I believe in - can not be begun -
if it is a dream bound by the limits of the Land of Israel.

For the Greater Israel I believe in resides
in the spirit that lives within the one heart of the Jewish nation -
Greater Israel as an Nation absolutely dedicated to Peace -
the Peace of God which is the common salutation
of the children of our Father Abraham
to all human Nations.

In this spirit is rebirth - for we can not return in time -
along the way that time itself has left us - in our common reality -
like it is to return to the womb - we can not experience physical time twice.

But we can experience
in our own memories - a rebirth of timeless Remembrance -
and obtain in our understanding, a spirit that leads the way to a newness of time
upon our hearts, upon our lives, upon our families, upon our national communities,
and upon our world - an age where we all can hope and work together - to become
the greater Nations in ourselves - one to prevail in Maturity over our lesser selves -
and rejoice in the shedding away of former things by our turning away from them
that we may indeed become the light unto each other that God hath intended
all human Nations to be - kindred in His Peace over War - forever. 

Carpe Diem

Do you still not know why the Stars call you, Old Defiant?



93,000 souls lost to us in Syria. I can not even begin to imagine such indeterminable damage being inflicted on our nation without the heart of our people breaking... I just can not.

God help the Syrian people wherever they may be, may the LORD keep each of them, and may God gather them all in safety and peace, according to His necessary purposes in time and upon the earth, preserving them each in their humanity.

No nation on this earth at this present age of maturity of all human remembrances can withstand such agony without flinching. Yet the hurting, the weeping, and the dying continues unabated.

No, the conflict in Syria I believe has morphed into something else. This is no longer a civil war. What it has now become is a greater regional war concealed as a battle for the Soul of the Syrian Nation.

The incomprehensible pain of all this unrestrained fighting have now given rise to a conflict fueled by a much more deeper division. And there are greater dangers concealed in the midst.

Our Peacekeepers have to be extra alert. Everything vital about the UN mission on the Golan have to be made clear to them and to us, the one Filipino people, so that it should stand out starkly - bright against what we are trying to hold back by our commitment to guard those heights.

We have to be lucid. We have to take care.

My compatriots, this is perhaps, one of those defining moments... we have come to the lead position in this respect, to find a crossroads in the forest of time - we have to take a path for our family of nations, we have to seize the day.

Against the gathering storm, Austria has pulled out its troops on the Golan. We all must understand we now hold the line on the Golan and this line has to hold. It has to hold.

We have to understand, at least in this present time, this moment is ours.

God bless us all, mabuhay!

---<--@

Shalom. Salaam. Peace.

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

so that I may prosper them through their generations

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



I love the Holy Land
and have often thought -

If Israel is attacked, I am an Israeli.

If Palestine is attacked, I am a Palestinian.

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

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

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

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

In this way, I find my voice.

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


No Way

Salutation #120

Mazel tov, Israel -

mabuhay at maligayang bati!

Binabati kita bilang tanyag at modernong Sambayanang-Kilusang payapa
nang may buong kaalamang ika'y tunay na matanda pa
at kagalang-galang sa iyong mga taon kesa rito.

Kapayappan sa iyo ang aking alay:

Sana maghari na rin
ang kapayapaan sa Gitnang Silangan
at diwa ng pagkikipagkaibigan sa mga bansa sa puso ng ating Asya
bawa't isa bilang kanya-kanyang Sambayanang-Kilusang payapa
lalo na ang pinaka-mahina at pinaka-nangangailangan sa lahat -
ang mga Palestinong biktima na rin ng lumang diwa ng galit at dibisyon
na magiting na tumatangan sa pag-asa ng kaninlang adhikaing
makilala at makipagugnayan sa atin bilang bansang isa.

Kapayapaan na inyo na ring kanlungan,
mahal naming bayang Israel,
at kanlungan na rin nang lahat ng ating mga bansa
dito sa mundo nating pagod at nanganganib
at kasalukuyang nangangailangan
ng ating pagkalinga at pagmamahal.

Maghari sana
ang diwa ng bagong panahon
at maging liwanag nawa ito
sa pagnanasa nating lahat -

Kapayapaan, Israel,
ang iyong tunay na karunungan!

Mahal kita - nawa'y kupkupin ka ng Diyos
at pagpalain nang Diyos ang lahat nating mga bansa -
maligayang kaarawan!
---<--@



(Free Israel!)

Mazel tov, Israel -
long may thy remembrance serve thee!

I greet thee, Modern Israel, as an undertaking of Country
recognizing that thy age as a nation is far more better in their years.

My hope for thee is peace:

Let there be peace in the Middle East
and goodwill to all the nations at the heart of our Asia
- each arrayed as their own particular undertaking of Country -
not forsaking all, especially the most vulnerable of all:
the Palestinians caught between the poverty of their exile
and the strength of the nationhood they keep in their hearts.

The peace which is to thee 

thy own shelter, beloved people Israel,
as well as to all our kindred nations in this world
so much in need of respite and repair.

May the spirit
of this new season under heaven
reign upon the souls of all our peoples
and may it be as a light unto each of us
that guide our way back to peace -

Peace, Israel,
which is thy real heritage
and the fruit of all thy wisdom.

I love you - God keep you

and God bless us all -
happy birthday!
---<--@



O Israel, can you see what lies just ahead? There is nothing there...

For we have ALL been by the spirit of War deceived.

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!

Who Are You, Syria?

Who are you, Syria?

Why are you trying to murder your own nation?
Why do you seek the final overthrow of thy own soul?
Have thou forgotten the justice of thy own peace?

What for art thou, O Syria - who are you these days?

What are you laboring so vehemently to become, O troubled Republic?
Who for are you pledging all these pain and suffering?
What do you seek to reap for thyself in the midst of all this blood and tears?
What do you seek to gain from your undying sacrifices?

Return to a memory of thyself...

Shall you stand alone 
in the midst of all this clamor and din 
only to find for thyself 
a sword aimed at thy own heart?

Return to thyself, O Syria!

Thou art at the brink of a million-year crossroads.

Come back to thy own reason, and reclaim thy own peace...

Make the choice to be one once again -
O beloved nation, kindred to my own peace,
let not the spirit of War deceive thee in thy heart of hearts!

The void has not overcome thee yet.
---<--@

Salutation #113

Those who live to nurture
the tree of the desolation of war
- shall certainly eat of its fruit -
and the fruits of war is plain
and bitter forever.

Therefore,
let us return now to the native peace of our nations -
that we may eat of the fruit that sustains our humanity;
that we may be a support to each other as citizens;
that we may be a blessing to each other as nations;
that we may reflect the glory of the God heaven on earth.



(The Tree of the Desolation of War)

THERE WAS ONCE
an orchard filled with trees
of many kinds.

All of the trees in the orchard
bore good fruit save for one.

There was a tree
at the center of the orchard
that bore no fruit at all.

It was the largest tree of all.

It was also the most ancient of all.

It's great and lofty branches
overshadowed a third of the orchard.

It blocked out much of the sky.

And it drew up nourishment
from the soil meant for other trees.

Now,
the number of trees in the orchard was fixed
by the owner from the beginning.

To each tree he assigned
from among all of his laborers in the field,
a custodian.

For the owner had much property to tend
and not enough workers.

To each custodian in the orchard, 

the owner assigned a specific yield. 

And for this yield he gave a specified time.

He then left to find more workers.

- selah -

The trees are our nations. 

The great tree at the center of the orchard 

is the desolation of war. 

The custodians are the angels of the nations 

who are the keepers of our sacred remembrances. 

The owner is the LORD, 

the one Sovereign of all nations. 

And we are the workers.

But the custodian of the desolation of war 

is the great serpent of faded Eden. 

And he bids us 

- constantly - 

not to tend to our trees. 

At the very door of our hearts, 

the enemy of all human nations 

calls us not to serve
and to commit adultery
against our own humanity.

Time came 

and a great darkness fell upon our nations: 

The great cycle of the one celestial season is turning: 

Winter now approaches our time on earth.

Let us then work 

to complete our own remembrances 

with autumn leaves shed 

not so much for winter's sake 

but for the spring.

Let us turn away from the darkness.

Let us tend to each our own trees. 

And bear the good fruit of repentance.

Let us fight for the Causes 

- that have forever established us -

a free and human nation: 

Sacred Life, Law, Justice, and Benignity.

Let us compete in virtue 

- as citizens to each other - 

and produce for God and for each other 

a yield of good works, ten-fold, 

a hundred-fold, even a thousand-fold!

Starve out the serpent, O my nation! 

And let our generations prosper far into their years...

Born to the Morning: 

This is our land and Now is our time.

Because now is the time for peace.

This is our time.

---<--@

It is human to fight for right causes. It is not human to fight against Justice.

It is human to know when to stop fighting. It is not human to forsake the cause of Peace.

It is human to hope for self and for others. It is not human to despair of either self or of others.

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.
---<--@


Lightning Preceding Thunder

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 #76

You might say, my dear Filipino soul, that that embattled region of our Asia, the Middle East, is not our concern - not our concern at all.

Ah, but it is!

Believe me when I say it, the fate of many nations depend on it.

- selah -

Here is a map of the region: Where are the divisions here?

My beloved brothers and sisters of the Promise,

hear me when I say -

The lines on a map are artificial

- insofar as we understand -

that these are not meant to scatter the hearts of our nations

nor divide and dilute the concentrated spirit of our common humanity

but to facilitate the temporal labor of our nations (as Countries upon our world)

that we may better bring continually forth and preserve

a wholesome and healthy sense of meaningful purpose to our world

sustaining an order built upon a just and abiding peace

among all peoples of the earth

according to the needs of every present time.

Now,

these lines become permanent divisions

that lay its dark siege against the life of our nations

insofar as the peoples of Mankind forget that

- Unity is Eternal -

and the hearts of the children of Mankind

freely and willingly permit

the War in heaven a place on earth.

Salutation #76

(The one Cause of Palestine)

Palestine is divided,

the sky above the heart of Asia

lay shattered only because we accept it.

Say thee with me,

I for one do not accept it!

Neither do I accept the manifold evils

that embattle her peoples, making them suffer,

in spirit as well as in temporality.

For my vision of the region

and every undertaking of Country that must animate all these favored lands

is not one of division but of unity.

So peace be with you!

Unity is Eternal.

Let this be your vision as well.

- selah -

To the nations -

When art thou going to stop

feeding the insatiable division that is slowly

killing the needful cause of the peace of Modern Israel

and therefore, making permanent the darkness engulfing

all the suffering peoples of that choice and blessed region of Palestine?

To all you with hearts to listen,

all my brothers and sisters of the Promise -

The "Palestinians" stand for a cause

for which all nations are in spirit purposed on earth

by the God of all heaven and earth.

If they were not

- in the eyes of many -

one people united in heart before,

all of this present turmoil, tragedy and grief

has certainly bound them together

as one nation now.

This is a truth that by any other name remains the truth.

Therefore,

if you shall say the "Palestinians" are an invented people,

then you might be implying that the cause for which they are united

is a fabricated cause.

And if you shall say that the Palestinian Cause is a fabricated cause,

this might indicate that you are unable to grasp the long view of the region.

And if you allow yourself to freely believe this,

for whatever reason, conscious or unconscious, you may allow;

if you fail to consider the realities on the ground,

you support neither Israel or Palestine.

Say thee with me,

I will never stand for nor tolerate terrorism

nor shall I ever desire the destruction of any nation

above all Israel whom one should love dearly

and to whom one should speak the truth.

Truly,

if we are not careful, O my nations,

if we continue to allow for the deception of War

to sow its scattering in each our hearts;

if we permit the beast of War

even a toehold in our souls,

we all shall fail.

- selah -

I have always maintained - to each of you -

that the Middle East is where the siege of War shall be broken;

that it is here where the darkness of the last great age of war shall be lifted,

however, I have also always carefully reminded each of you that this is a choice

and that we must make this choice today while it is still today.

For our unity is an integral part of our liberty as nations

- human nations, O human Man,

nations dreaming together this time.

Therefore,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

let this be the prayer in our heart -

Let there be peace across all of Palestine;

a peace to calm the storm at the heart of our Asia!

Let there be peace across all of Palestine -

for the sake of all the nations of our needful world,

including our beloved Philippines.

Above all,

let there be peace across all of Palestine

- a constant reign of truth -

for the sake of those long-suffering peoples

descended from the lineages of

both Isaac and Ishmael

(both of which are beloved of God as we are beloved of God)

and the nations God had intended for their safety and progress

for the honor of the LORD,

the glory of the unity of God,

and the salvation of many.

---<--@

20111028

Salutation #62

I am hopeful not because there are words.

I am hopeful because there are people with listening ears

and hearts who are able to hear the meaning to the words...

(Nations Like Trees)

Wisdom is in the people -

(and discernment is in the Responsible State)

if we remain in ourselves, a nation united

- through thick or thin - by and by,

our Republic shall be enlightened by the peace we profess as a people

and our leadership enabled - inasmuch -

as we are empowered by the unity of our peace.

The more mature the peace we profess as a nation,

the better the age of our Country in time.

The deeper the roots of our citizenship is planted

upon the earth - far into forever -

as one Republic undertaking,

the more trusted shall be its fruits.

For nations are like trees

and the labor of Country is the labor of bringing the promise

of our nation into full fruition - for all Filipinos.

It is a labor of cultivation and nurture.

This is why I am passionate about the peace process.

Everything in this day and age - as far as our Philippines is concerned -

is invariably tied to its success and its success is likewise tied

to the greater forces that are now driving our world

toward interdependent community.

For there are many rooms and many trees...

---<--@

One lineage of hope - 7,107 islands strong -

"In the longer view of things, divisions don't make a difference, unity does."

You know, I used care a lot about where we've been - about one's upbringing, how one looks, how one sounds, what's in a name, from which school, from what religion, from what province, and from what family, and from what social class...

Now, what I truly care about the most is where we are ALL going.

I have awoken to the truth - that -

there can only be one Philippines for ALL Filipinos!

---<--@

An Accounting of Time

Time is not distance for time is distant

only to those with distant hearts.

Nor is distance a hindrance to our hearts

that in the timeless, beholds and is beheld.

PEACE, I salute you.

---<--@

Our dearest Starshine -

Let me teach you
the way in which thy heart
does perceive the idea of numbers
and the concept of its operation
in those realms where
the mathematics of physicality
and the limits of its reality
in terms temporal
and in measures finite
does never and shall never agree
with the reality of things within.

Because the substance of thy soul

is the abode of the timeless
that in terms eternal
and in measures infinite
are an accounting of thy heart
that amidst thy comings and goings
perceive things as they are
like a vision of love forever
in moments standing still
and not as they seem to be
amidst the darkness of things
that appear and disappear
with the rise and fall
of the tides of exile time.

One is not the beginning

for one is time neither begun
nor is one perceived to have an end
because one is an infinity
and two is not two things together
but two things that become one
for three are not three things apart
but two things made one whole one
by the Love that visits
each our longing for itself.

And so when you shall perceive

each of thy friendships, dear Starshine,

(e.g. family and friends, above all conjugal love,

as well as all natures of relationships.)

among all truly human relationships
you shall think only of one.

And when you shall seek to perceive
each our own expressions of hope
in the sharing and the bearing of Sacred Life
(e.g. complementarity of the sexes, the freedom of thy gifts, etc.)

you shall think only of two.

And when you shall seek to perceive
those things born to thy own heart's longing
and felt through the beauty of remembrances

(e.g. the creative ideal - cooperation with the Creator,

Peace and the labors of peace, etc.)
awakening to thy slow awakening dream
you shall think only of three.

And ever be aware that the medium

of thy constant reality from within
is an emerging continuum of gratitude
spread as luminous stars upon thy spirit
bursting with the joy of living life
born from things that cleave as truth
unto that vast universe in thy soul
that make you think of the many
but return you always to one -

the One, O my Starshine,

the LORD!

The one Giver above His gifts.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Patient Perseverance

Remembrance: The Ages of Country

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

20110624

"THERE IS A WAY to effect change but never must it go against the will that establish for all Mankind the shape of present things, all that is present to our humanity must be all that is accepted, first and foremost, and without condition -

this is the first requirement of faith in Divine Providence."

Salutation #23

(The 2009 Minimum of the Times)

Peace, I salute you.

Accept the status quo from 2009 - surrender to it -

embracing all its opportunities, problems, as well as its advantages.

And work to improve it from within.

Look no more into the troubles of past things for answers.

Neither be inspired by the evil of things past.

Let them all fade away into the night falling away behind us.

Rebuild thy nations

who are citizens of each its undertaking of Country

and work to restore good will one with another

dreaming as nations together this time -

human nations, O human Man!

Restore the fostering strength of thy national communities.

Repel the darkness of War and deny War an entrance into this world

by rebuilding the one Peace from within

- from wholes to wholes -

from each thy selves, shining out,

even as the numberless stars in the night sky

become in thy selves all those living lights, shining out,

into thy families, thy tribes, thy communities, and thy nations;

into thy regions, and into to thy continental wholes

and when the wholes are in their order,

arrayed according to their councils,

the problems of this, our present world,

which have heretofore

remained out of thy reach

- being global in their nature and scope -

shall come into each thy own purview

and - if God is merciful to us,

no longer shall these evils confound.

Remember always from Whose Light you were all recast,

especially all of you numberless stars of our Father Abraham

- children of the Promise made by God of old -

drawn from the emptiness of the void

into the substance of thy remembrances this time -

the LORD, thy one, true and living God!

Remember also thy togetherness,

O ye nations of the children of Mankind,

and make a burden of thy history no more.

Cross the threshold into this new age

by entering into the right door

which shall not only open for you

the dawn of the promise of this new age

but shall also secure for each of thee

a blessing for thy generations

- the generations of life, they shall be called -

closing itself shut against

the lingering hold of the last great age of War.

You must do so before the close of 2012.

For if these shadows seem long and dreary,

lingering there - in front of thy sorrowful heart

turn away from the Night, Beloved of God,

and face thee again the gathering Day!

And if in the LORD, thy God,

thou has found once again Thy sheltering Light

never look back, o ye nations,

to let these shadows of times past

fade away behind us

forever.

(Refer to Daniel 12)

---<--@

Our Future

The future is golden, it is the color of a smile.

You may measure it by the brightness of thy hopes.

The future is blue, built upon the strength of friendships.

You may in thy belongings succeed under the sheltering skies of its Peace.

The future is green, it is verdant with patient life.

You may stand firm upon the solidity of its commitment to Sacred Life.

The future is white, resplendent with truth and virtue.

You may seek all human happiness unhindered in the freedoms you will gain by its merits.

Let this be our future.

---<--@

Arise, America

There are these many stars in the skies above my soul -

I draw from the inspiration of General George Washington, impervious to the corrupting influence of power, steadfast in adversity, gracious in victory - avarice and elitism (wrought by selfish factionalism) were no match for his discipline.

His soul lived for his Country and his heart for his of family to whom he showed an ordered love that lived in the context of his patriotism especially for his wife, Martha.

It was the obsolete practice of blood-letting that weakened George Washington and eventually took his life on his sick bed in Mount Vernon - something that I perceive is happening all over again to his beloved American Republic.

- selah -

America, you must dream again with us in this new age of Peace.

Arise, America! Complete your remembrances - our one family of nations have a constant need of your principles, ideals and strength of innovation.

---<--@

Mabuhay po tayong lahat nang mga bansa! Long may our remembrance serve us. May God bless all the nations of our one family of the nations of Mankind.

An Act of Unity

Come See

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