A Harvest of Hunger

The beauty of the Philippines
Locked in disbelief.
Afraid of herself.
She would rather sleep.

In poverty we must rise
Hungry but not surprised
Gathering together to pray and sing
A little bird taking wing.

We'll labor to eat
Fear will not defeat
A simple people
Breaking new bread for old wheat...

A harvest of hunger
We will meet.
---<--@

Salutation #197

A forward thinking nation, that is who we must be;
a people endowed through their generations with well-informed thought -
living, loving, learning, grieving, working, and playing as a society of citizens
constantly empowered by the power of their own good thinking.

(Forward Thinking Nation)

All souls that seek are living souls.

It is in our seeking that maketh us to feel alive.
Led by a light that beckon each from outside of the self.

And thought is the light that enlivens the soul of a thinking nation -

Thought that is good 

maketh the love in the heart 

shine in the mind!

Information enlightened by thought is knowledge. 

And knowledge blessed by the soul of a thoughtful nation 

leadeth all its citizens to be gathered together in peace.

A thoughtful people possesses 

a mind of prayer and a heart of faith; 

theirs is a science pure and free.

Just as the faith of a man or a woman 

allow their souls to seek the truth,

the soul of a faithful nation 

allows for all living souls 

to become gathered together 

and know peace.

This is who we have always been...

- selah -

What we need to do is return -

to a common memory of the little things,

the steadfast littleness of good things - those fine, fine things

that maketh the infinite, infinite in us.

Little acts of kindness builds a compassionate community.

Like mighty, little stones these nameless motions are 

which fastened together by the cement of our good will

become the great and courageous walls that rise up 

as a common shelter to our families and friends 

against the malice of the enemy.

Great power does not hold the beast back. 

Great love does.

And great love is never great without these little things

that maketh the infinite, infinite in us.

Let us begin.

---<--@

Salutation #183

"One sees only with the heart. 
What is essential is invisible to the eye."

- from "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery



(Philosophical Realism)

Common Reality is
a reflection of the totality of things unseen -
an unfolding vision of the entirety of the truth of things
we see (without seeing) as an image in the eye of the heart -
and that also which is inaccessible yet necessary to our wellness.
It is a one whole spiritual continuum - completed and perfected.
The invisible canvass of a great and eternal work upon which is added
each our own life as colors are added unto the awakening dream
of God for all creation - in our behalf.

How deeply each of us understands
the visible universe of which we are all a part
AND how completely we perceive this spiritual reality
- through the eye of each our heart -
IS how exactly we "see" with each our mind
- by the wholeness of our knowing -
what is received through our external senses
and THIS determines our Relative or individualistic view
of what is made particular to each of our individual perception
of Common Reality, interacting with it freely and accordingly
under the Eternal Vigilance of God and the All of heaven
ever as individual threads are carefully and together interwoven
in a grand pattern that is beyond our ability to seize or comprehend.

Each our lives are called in this way to seek, love and know Truth
in order to create the ever living patterns of our most beautiful forever.

Each of us alone
can not create reality -
Neither Common reality
nor the myriad particular ones
that each soul must continually receive
at the twinkling of every eye - seamlessly -
and from moment to moment - constantly -
from the intermingling in time of what is individual
and what is collective in All that is living in all souls
as that particular truth that inexorably embrace each of us
to be perceived as realities Relative to each ourselves as ourselves.

For these are aspects
of an unimaginably greater fullness
much, much larger than our freedoms
and much, much nobler than our minds together
immense beyond our scope to contain with our understanding
all too wonderful and all too unimaginably loving and joyful
all too brightly lit for our hearts, shining with a million shining suns,
being filled with the wonder of limitless golden horizons
overflowing with the realizations every human hope and longing
unto which we may only hope for, dare against, and strive with,
so that we may each, God-helping, through a little bit of our own giving
add a little but of ourselves freely... unto what is truly and absolutely real.

Certainly,
even the all of us together
may not complete it.

For Truth is forever in a state of limitless perfection.
It is the heart of Man that reality must bring unto completion.

- selah (pause and think) -

We can neither choose to willfully take away (or distort)
the freedom of our own experience of all that is in reality
nor deny the freedom of its existence (the Call of Truth)
from the being of other living souls not unlike ourselves,
whether seen or unseen.

We - as we are now -
are not possessed of strength
to effectively govern any kind of truth
much less govern those necessary realities
that are benign and receptive to the life in our souls
and nurturing to the life of visible creation on our own -
as individuals, as nations, even as nations together.

We are the Children because we are vulnerable in this way.
We are the Children because we are also precious in this way.

- selah -

Truly,
we must rely on God
and on each other for safety
- safety of body, soul, and spirit -
in the most complete sense of the word.

For the Mind of God
mitigates most of the things in our minds
that we do not have the capacity to comprehend.

He walks in the calm of our souls - gently -
to instruct us of things that must come to pass
through the Scriptures, even here - in the Now,
that we may come to believe in His Truth
when the present unfolds - as it is -
(Amen to the LORD, and bless His Name!)
so that each our hearts may safely apprehend
through the slow awakening sunrise of every faith
the safety and certainty of his unseen Presence
nourishing our souls with the grace to withstand
(and therefore, to eventually understand)
what we, in our nakedness, can not hope
to directly withstand in the reality of the Divine;
that we may in time always dwell in His Memory
and live in the Eternal Remembrance of our God.

Truly,
our God will not allow matters to burden our spirit
with burdens that we can not carry - together with Him.

Hence, there are likewise
things in the Eternal Memory
that are completely kept away
from Our Remembrance
for our own good.

- selah -

We all know each our particular realities must differ,

such is the completeness of our awareness of individuality!

But these Relative realities
are all relative to one Common Reality -
and we experience this in the mystery of the spirit
of all those inward things that must inescapably connect us

in our common need of community and individual meaningfulness

present in varying degrees in the expressions of our civilizations

and in the many individual reflections of a perfect conception 

we human beings are capable of knowing and dreaming 

of ourselves together - in the light of we, as we are

born of a timelessness that belongs to none of us 

yet at the same time belongs to all of us.

Sacred is the Silence that knows 

of the one Music in all things!

For all things in time are in motion 

because God is - in all things, stillness.

- selah -

Truth is what is essential in our being human.

We, as human beings can not create any kind of truth in the Truth,
like we can not call into being the soul that breathes life into the body
nor can we hope to re-create any reality whether Relative or Common.
like it is to hope to contain the sheer immensity of the deep of things
that give rise to the ocean of every present time in every present thing.

We can not be the designers of our destiny
who did not know the perfection of it's makings
from the very beginning.

We can not be the masters of our times
who have known not the whereabouts of time
from its very roots.

Yea, there is an aspect of Common Reality that must be apart from each of us
Light that shines apart from our individual thinking - and being - and becoming
- Light that enlightens and Light that ennobles and Light that shines through -
and Truth that is absolutely independent of our conception of any reality.

But we, even as human beings in the here and now,
can become privy to the truth and by so knowing the Truth
obtain wisdom enough to live in harmony with it,
at-one with God and heaven, at peace with our selves on earth,
and at peace with the good will of all human and angelic community.

In so doing this,
we let go, and in so letting go,
add by the freedom of our giving
to the fullness of our one, Common Forever.

- selah -

Each our souls
might be individually and uniquely redeemed
by the one Redeemer of all Mankind in Jesus Christ -
but the fullness of our Salvation comes
by the strength of our common communities!

And so we continue to co-create - with every present time -
in intimate cooperation with the Providence of God and each other -
the reality of the things that ultimately shall belong to each of us
and because God is good, it is a brilliant destination for all of us.

In this we must,
for in this we know
to trust in the LORD -

All shall be well.

By the light of our freedom - 

from the many labors of each faith;
love and hope into one work of living life,
peace and good will are our manifestations.

God created everything first, then Man.
So Nations are a people first,
then everything.

- selah -

People - especially the captains of our humanity -
who in the past believed reality is created by their needs
musts obscure Remembrance in order to silence the voice of the past,
that they may in so doing weaken the life of the present and,
forgetting all things, unwittingly cut themselves off
from each their own appointed lineages of eternal victory
who by their own evil eventually destroy even their own makings
for theirs and theirs alone are the legacies of those defeated dreams
- inhumane, unfeeling, incapable of truth, incapable of peace -
that sink with the sinking of the darkness of exile time
into the oblivion of the void of all things that never were...

We can not blindly adopt
this kind of un-thinking... ever again!



Human Dignity and Human Promise
and its preservation is paramount
in the life of every Nationhood.

Tread carefully... 
recognizing the space 
between thy souls
as sacred.



This is realism.
---<--@

Salutation #156

You can not see love
yet you feel it when it's near
and even more so when it is far...

The spiritual soul
implicitly understands this.

But to the unspiritual
this only brings confusion.



(Rich in all things, Rich above all things)

Starshine -

Is Mankind 
truly experiencing 
an awakening in the soul? 

We can feel our way
toward an answer to this
by how we learn to come to love
what we can no longer see.

We can not see virtue
but we can understand its worth.

AND if this love of the spiritual
overcomes our love for the material,
far from nullifying our national prosperity,
it will cause our people to become rich indeed -
rich in all things, rich above all things.

Reality is that our Reality is
99% invisible to the human eye -

   We can not see Country
   but we hope to understand its worth.
   For what is essential is formed in formlessness.

We are seen more than we can see.
And loved more than we are able to believe.

---<--@

Salutation #129

ALL SALUTATIONS are meant
to invoke into our collective memory
the reality of something good.

Evil
being devoid of that excellence
we tend in spirit to honor and admire
is not something we commonly salute
as human beings - and so -
as human nations together
we do not openly invoke evil
in our salutations.

   (Therefore,
   we may safely exclude
   from this particular reflection
   anything else but the good in things.)



(The National Salutation)

"Mabuhay"
is the salutation
associated with the Philippines.

   (As such,
   it is quite familiar
   to all of us Filipinos
   and even to other nations.)

It is not a salutation of individuals.

- selah -

Therefore,
it can never be
something meant to refer to
(1) any single individual - or -
(2) anything about the life of any single individual - or -
(3) anything about his or her personal virtues
no matter how excellent.

So what does it mean
when we Filipinos say "mabuhay"?

And
when we Filipinos do say "mabuhay"
what for or to whom in particular
do we tend to - consciously -
as well as - unconsciously -
address this to?

Mabuhay
simply means "to bring to life".

It is a salutation
that invokes "life" or the quality of it.

Now,
the life of any nation
is the product of the quality
of the communities that exists
wholly within itself.

It is therefore,
a measure of the sum
of all its relationships,
vertical and then horizontal.

   (This sum
   is always positive
   no matter how deteriorated
   any nation becomes.

   For
   there are no last peoples
   only disappeared cultures.

   Indeed,
   there will always be
   - remnant nations -
   for as long as there are
   nations upon our world.

   Because
   just as there are no such things
   as false hopes, only real ones;
   there are no such things
   as false relationships,
   only real ones.)

Now,
the quality
of these relationships
within the nation
is a product of
the quality
of the national remembrance.

For it is remembrance
that dictates the quality
of the national peace.

- selah -

My brother and sister Filipinos -

Mabuhay - is -
the salutation of our nation
in its entirely - and so -
must refer to the quality of the life
of the nationhood in each ourselves
- as well as -
the completeness of the sacred remembrances
we must together keep through all our generations
as a nation upon this earth.

It intends
to specifically invoke
- in the one Filipino heart -
a memory of itself.

It is a salutation
addressed directly and simultaneously
to all Filipinos from everywhere
and from every time
and is meant to return (again and again)
our every present generation
to the timeless memory
of our people.

It ever reminds
of the reality of our nationhood;
its duties and responsibilities,
its mission, vision, promise, and destiny.

And says to every Filipino heart,
"long may our remembrances serve us".

So when we Filipinos say -

"mabuhay"

it should mean
that we do love the Philippines
as citizens to each other,
and that we do understand this love
as truth in our hearts.

- selah -

When we invoke
our national salutation
- with substance -
this truth empowers us.

It must elicit in our hearts
a love that is not distant or abstract!

It must ever remind us
of everything real to our national hopes
as a nation distinct among nations;
that particular something
we can all meaningfully understand.

It must continuously rekindle
in each ourselves (again and again)
- as citizens to each other -
that sovereign kind of mutual ownership
proper to our national trust
and empower us with a love of Country
that reaches right down to the ground
of our national communities
enabling every Filipino
to freely bring the blessings of our peace
into the lives of the very least
of our brothers and sisters,
our littlest Filipinos.

- selah -

The life of every nation
is derived from its particular sense of unity
and this particular sense of unity
is derived from the strength of its peace.

Upon this peace
(and the abundance or the lack of it)
is established the order and the cohesion
of all its national communities.

A nation's life - therefore,
is measured by the quality
of the sum of all the relationships
dwelling forever within itself.

- selah -

Mabuhay 
is meant to recall us
to a memory of all of these relationships
in particular with the poor and needy in our midst
not to remind us of what we lack
but to return us to what we all must be - together this time -
to the one labor that our nation is purposed for by God,
the one trust that binds together all our generations,
and that constant remembrance of the peace
that must forever and ever live
- in each of us -
as citizens, one to another,
- equally engaged -
in our one Republic undertaking of Country -


---<--@

(original produced 20110821)

Salutation #123

This Salutation is about the national discourse, and illustrates the dynamism of our democracy, it bids us never forget that the LORD, our one, true God and Eternal King, is forever included in the continuing dialogue of our one Republic endeavor.

(The Plan)

THERE IS A PLAN;
a plan that must constantly
renew and reinvent itself.

For it must!

In this way,
it is a humble plan.

For one can not know it all.

Nor can one claim to own it all.

It is a simple plan;
a plan that one must be able
to express clearly and sincerely.

A plan that one must be able
to see and to share freely
in and among all of us
who are willing to build
and improve upon it.

It is a plan
for everybody
meant to be shared
by everybody.

It is a plan
one knows one can never finish
by one's own self alone
without you,
my fellow Filipinos.

For this plan,
my brothers and sisters of the Promise,
is a plan for the nation.

It is a plan for us.

- selah -

Indeed,
God has a plan for you, my Country.
But I can not tell you of this plan...

I can tell you it's a wonderful plan. 
I can tell you its a plan meant for our good. 
I can tell you its a plan of happiness. 
I can tell you its a plan for all Filipinos
(as citizens and human beings to each other
and as a nation among one family of nations).

Deep in our soul, it is written;
a promise of victory,
a song of songs!

You know this plan, my compatriots.

For God has a plan for us, my nation.

But I can not tell us of this plan...
we have to tell it to each other.

---<--@

This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday 2012, alleluia!

Filipino Volunteerism

"What is good for the Philippines is good for the Filipino."

This is an axiom of our national life

of which there should be no significant departures -

everything good about our Republic

should redound to the common benefit our citizenry!

The spirit of Filipino volunteerism is nourished by this standard.

Mabuhay, Efren Penaflorida

- tunay na bayaning Pilipino -

malapit sa tao, kilala sa mundo!

May God bless you,

O giver of gifts -

and may God bless our Country

with His most gracious peace

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

---<--@

Salutation #100

SO WE CHOOSE PEACE TODAY

and let peace take us into itself tomorrow.

(The Beginnings of Peace)

We do not enter into a peace process

to convince ourselves of our common need of peace -

the fruits of War itself

should have made this need apparent

to our convictions beforehand.

Indeed,

the last 2000 years

is prelude to this one choice alone.

(This is why it is important that our national leadership -

especially those who are at the forefront of the peace process

are the persons most convinced of our need for Peace over War.)

Because

lasting peace does not begin

at the stroke of a pen.

Lasting peace

for our nation begins

when hearts become turned away from War.

- selah -

It is a mistake to think

- here in our native Philippines -

that the peace process is anything complex.

For if we prevail over one of its major areas of concern,

this makes it easier for us to prevail over the others.

(The spirit of War is cunning but it is still one spirit alone.)

This is why

our main focus must always be - in Mindanao -

because, my brother and sisters of the Promise,

- if we are able to bridge -

the deepest and most enduring of our divisions as a people,

then the peace for our Philippines

is sure to be certain.

We prevail over War together

- my one nation Philippines -

or War shall have us all!

Therefore,

we do not enter into

our own particular peace process

to pursue a path of defeat for anyone -

(for Peace is Peace and War is War)

we enter into our peace process

to find a way of victory for all Filipinos.

(Many other things require our energies...)

O when shall we sing
our victory songs, my people?

When shall we see
peace reign across our land,
making our hearts whole,
and our spirits glad?

Now is the favorable time...

This War among Filipinos must be brought to a swift end!

---<--@

Salutation #99

The things of division are ephemeral

- difficult and painful they may be -

these evils serve a necessary purpose

and this purpose is always

- greater and nobler -

than these hurts.

For unity and the fruits of unity,

- these are the things that matter -

these are eternal!

(Emergence)

Listen!

When I was a child,

I demanded perfection from my parents.

As I grew,

I came to accept not only their imperfection

but my own.

Now that I am all grown up,

I work with my parents

to make our family more perfect...

My brothers and sisters of the Promise -

That child is our nation,

those parents are our government

(under the LORD as our one Sovereign),

and that family is our one Republic.

---<--@

To everything there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under heaven.

Salutation #97

Do you know why this is the Land of the Morning?

Because when the Morning comes, my beloved people,

our common generations will ask -

"where is the darkness?"

(Do Not Entertain It)

The spirit of War desires

the ultimate destruction

of our nation -

Its lie shifts here and there,

hither and tither the darkness goes -

everything, a sinister and intelligent design

to carry our hearts far from the truth

of who we are, my people.

Do not entertain it.

Rather,

wax full in thy own heart of understanding,

the peace that is native to all Filipinos -

let us drink of it freely.

And let War drink its own poison.

---<--@

My brothers and sisters of the Promise,

no matter what you hear, no matter what you see,

it really doesn't matter when you know what you want...

Therefore,

we're going to build a Republic worthy of all Filipinos

- together this time.

PERIOD.

Salutation #95

All truth leads to freedom

only because our freedom is constantly

being perfected by the freedom of the LORD.

Freedom that is authentic to our humanity

is always relevant to our human need to be happy.

It is not the false image

of that presumptuous freedom

that shuns the accountability

that is an inherent responsibility

of an authentic human freedom.

Therefore,

freedom is not free

that binds us to the Evil in all evil things -

freedom is free which binds us to the truth

of God and of each other in common humanity.

(Truthfulness)

To be truthful,

seek first the Source of all truth

for as God is, we are.

Truth is

the mother tongue of heaven:

In the truth we are able to understand

and through it we are able to be understood.

Truth is

the common medium of all virtue:

By the truth good is recognized and applauded

and because of it evil is revealed and punished.

Therefore,

love the LORD

in everything and with everything.

This is the path of all true things.

- selah -

Strive to be aware of this

and in thy own understanding

strive in all things to speak the truth,

mean what you speak, speak what you mean,

and own up to what you mean

- doing all things in love and out of love -

for God and for thy fellow citizens upon the earth.

Exercise truthfulness

with a compassionate regard

for the humanity of other people -

so be gentle when you should speak.

For the habitual grace of truthfulness

does not bind us to the truth - rather -

it binds the truth - through us -

into the active service of charity

so that truth is made available,

by the demands of prudence

and command of charity,

most especially when it counts.

The object of this virtue is truth itself,

that which fills with substance all things whole

and endow it with force and meaning

which is more than its words.

The act of this virtue

is the honorable expression of truth

and this honorable expression - being -

the explicit recognition

amidst our human need for absolute truth

that the truth that lives in other people's lives

(the particular reality of the individual good)

- must also be recognized -

as an integral part

of this particular virtue's

expression of right action.

For the truth must be

- by its own virtue -

is wielded for no other reason

than to make men free.

---<--@

Truthfulness is an expression of the cardinal virtue, Justice.

The individual exercise of truthfulness is therefore, simultaneously both a personal as well as a civic virtue.

The ancient Filipinos possessed this virtue to a high degree.

Salutation #93

We have a need to look out into the horizons.

Upon the high mountain peaks of our ascent into completion.

We have to become familiar with our own undertaking of Country.

That we may hope to avoid future catastrophe.

We have to find the peace of our belongings together.

And ascend the mount with the sheltering wings of peace.

From hope to hope and strength to strength.

Until we have pierced the unconsciousness of our native skies.

From truth to truth and love to love.

Until darkness has waned.

And the night has fled our souls forever.

(Salutation #6)

(Conqueror of Heights)

The peace process might seem

like an insurmountable mountain,

looming impossibly ahead...

but I tell you, my people -

This is but a small hill that

- once conquered -

shall only broaden our horizons -

for we are a nation, my people!

We were meant to conquer not just hills

but mountains - mountains true,

and much higher than these,

mountains towering and majestic!

My brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we were joined together from Eternity

- to prevail against heights -

not to tower above one another

- as War would have it -

but to know the greatness

of our togetherness.

O what shall our horizons be then!

---<--@

In Unity Dwells God.

Ang Pilipinas

Isa-diwa -

Ang Pilipinas ay hindi bagay,

na maaring hawakan at kulungin -

ito'y parang isang pangako

na maari mo lamang tanggapin.

Isa-puso -

Ang Pilipinas ay hindi luha,

na pilit mo lamang didibdibin

ito'y parang isang paglayang

sa katotohanan ika'y kukupkupin.

Isa-buhay -

Ang Pilipinas ay hindi galit

na sa 'yong puso'y dadamdamin

ito'y parang isang panaginip

na sa 'yong buha'y dapat gisingin.

Isa-gawa -

Ang Pilipinas ay hindi sukat

na sa ibang tao'y iyong kukunin

ang katunayan nito'y pag-ibig

na sa iyong paglisa'y aalalahanin.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Manatili nawa tayo sa alaala nang ating diwa.

Salutation #89

Mapalad ang Bayan na ang Diyos ay ang PANGINOON.

(Hindi Mo Lang Alam)

Hindi mo lang alam -

Pilipinas naming mahal,

- kung gaano kaganda -

ang inihandang bukas

ng Panginoong Diyos mo

para sa iyo.

Hindi mo lang alam ngayon -

Pilipinas naming mahal,

pagka't gabi pa't madilim

at hindi mo pa nakikita

- ang iyong sarili -

kung sino ka talaga.

O bayan kong iniibig -

hindi tayo nabubuhay para sa gabi;

ang diwa ng ating pagka-bansa'y

hindi sumasaatin dahil ito'y madilim.

Hindi tayo naririto -

kapwa ko kapatid nang Pangako,

upang sa tuluyang paglisan nitong kadilima'y

hindi sumikat kasama ng pagdating

ng bukangliwayway para sa ating Pilipinas.

Ang bansa nati'y kagaya ng araw

na sa ating Bandila'y walang kupas ang kinang,

walang takot at walang tigil ang ningning;

araw na nagbibigay sinag

sa kanyang mga talang

- matalas ang kislap -

laban sa mapangahas na kadiliman

nitong gabi ng ating pagdadalamhating

nagpapakilala lamang sa atin

sa darating na umaga.

Mga kapatid kong Pilipino,

ito ang umagang ipinangako sa atin

ng Poon nating Maykapal

- ang nag-iisa nating Diyos -

at Haring kanlungan ng lahat ng mga bansa;

ang paglayang sisikat din

sa pagbubunga ng Kapayapang

magbiyaya sa atin ng lubusang kalayaan

at kaunlaran sa ating mga salinglahi.

O bansang Pilipinas,

lupaing hinirang ng araw,

Pangako mo kapag ito'y nasilayan

ng puso nino man,

kayamanang walang hanggan,

pag-ibig na walang kamatayan.

---<--@

Salutation #87

Judgment is the faculty of our soul - that -

deals with separating truth from untruth;

Light from Darkness.

(Decide)

To remove or to acquit?

Let me tell you this - decide.

Let us decide - and -

let us defend our decision together.

No nation is ruled by random chance.

There will be consequences

for every decision

we take* as a Country - good or bad.

(*Individual citizens make decisions,

our Congress takes them - in the context of this trial,

this means our incumbent citizen-servants

in the Senate, our Senator-Judges.

This is very important to understand.)

But if our immutable will - is -

to be true to the purpose

our God has established us, a nation

- imperfect though we may be -

all these imperfect choices

the LORD shall deign to bless.

And these shall ultimately lead our nation

- from generation to generation -

unto the Dawn!

For it is not we

who leads unto the Dawn, my people,

it is the LORD!

Personally speaking,
as your fellow citizen equally engaged
in this one Republic undertaking of Country,

I am ultimately inclined
to support our President Noy

for it is my conviction - that -
I must always defer to the Office

upon whose necessary authority

- every one of our presidents -

stands before we, the people.

- selah -

(I have other reasons

to support President Noy

- but they are wholly personal -

and so I shall exclude them

here in our consideration.)

But - good or bad - ultimately,

it is your choices we must defend, O my people,

so make these choices well and - decide.

---<--@

Think about it -

(Refer to our 2nd Monthly Exercise)

Whatever happens here, we can not exclude a Filipino from being a Filipino.

We still have to take care of each other.

We are expected to only choose our friends, this is the only correct choice.

So we must - with all peoples and with all nations, abide in peace and good will. Our enemies make themselves.

For our values are the values of peace.

NOTE: A representative democracy does not exclude the participation of the people so make an informed decision and let your representatives know - write them, text them, twitter them, or pm them in facebook - express your opinions through the right channels. Above all, we must stand together as one nation.

On the first day of trial, at the closing - Senator Enrile was right to caution us about who we are - we are a nation, not a mob. (20120116)

- selah -

I will cherish and understand our Republic endeavor - it is the foundation of our democratic processes in the political, social and juridical institutions and representative traditions that maintain the good order of our public peace that shelter and preserve the life of our civil society.

And I shall maintain a constant vigilance over our democracy, participating in the labors that enrich and advance the peace of our Republic, seeking every means available, to pursue the the common good of our people and realize the eternal vision of our nation established in our Constitution.

(excerpted from Citizenship with Fidelity)

(20120123) The uncertainty being braved through by our peers in the senate chamber - our senator-judges, the prosecution, as well as the defense - about this whole impeachment trial is proof of its own significance.

For we are making a path here where there was none.

It is a path that if it is crafted properly and tread justly, with the utmost care about all those concerned (the nation not excepted), shall serve as a comfort and a guide for those generations who yet to stand at the helm of our great and noble Republic undertaking.

Yes, it is important!

Let us pray it concludes decisively.

---<--@

The National Minimum

We are Complete

Let me bless the LORD, my honorable nation,

Let me bless the LORD before thee, my beloved people,

for God saw it fit that my silent seeking should be answered -

had we but two of the great Abrahamic faiths

present in the midst of our peoples?

No, my Philippines - we are complete.

Alleluia - bless the Name of God, our King - we are complete!

I did not think till yesterday early morning that we had a living branch of Elder Israel dwelling within the bounds of our Country.

So to the Jewish Community here in our Philippines, let me say this blessing unto each of thee -

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

At mabuhay po tayong lahat!

---<--@

We are different, yet we are the same -

Shalom. Salaam. Peace.

Salutation #86

Of the Responsible State,

it must be said - there is no state more superior,

regardless of it's present governing framework,

than one that brings peace to the people.

A state must be judged by the people and the people by their peace.

A peaceful nation is a happy people ruled by a just state.

This state (the civilian leadership and its necessary administration),

regardless of its governing framework philosophy (in its present evolution),

is a just state - it is a Responsible State!

As all that is truth

cleave unto each other in the ascent,

so does freedom become ennobled

by the ennobling presence of freedom.

(Crossroads)

Peace, I salute you.

What's really on trial next week?

I want you see behind the externals

and look above the personalities involved,

and to perceive this impeachment in terms national

which extends across the life of our generations -

What's on trial next week

is an old and oppressive system

of selfish elitism and mindless factionalism -

a system which is disloyal to the life of our Republic;

a system we, the people, have allowed to endure

and have now the rare opportunity

to directly check and peaceably correct.

You feel the subtle effects of this system

('tis a rule of War, a mindless paradigm of division)

for it is like a tyranny without a tyrant

and its unfamiliar spirit is here in our midst

because we have allowed it to creep deep into our culture -

right into the very nook and cranny of every Filipino home

the sacredness of which our Constitution

- explicitly protects as inviolate -

because it is from each of our homes

where both our fortunes as well as our futures

as one Republic whole are broken or made.

(And War would have us all undone, my nation -

from weak to strong, and from lie to lie.)

Each home in our Republic is a bastion of Country,

for no matter how it is built - how magnificent or how humble -

each of our homes is dignified and defended by the laws

that we owe to each other equally - to recognize and uphold -

laws kept so that kings and presidents may not enter

any one of our homes - from least to great -

(but especially the least from among all)

without each our express permission -

let alone the spirit of War!

- selah -

My beloved people,

in exactly one week from now,

we shall arrive at a crossroads...

(only one of the many along our straight path)

where we shall each perceive

two paths leading out into the distance.

We shall each invest in a choice - as a nation -

a choice we must make more through our faith

- in the workings of God and of Country -

than through individual knowledge of any kind.

So that if we are still not established upon the truth

of who we are as a people and why we are as a nation,

when the time comes and everything speeds up once again

and the currents become for us turbulent -

we might get swept away - again -

into a place in time

we don't ever want to be.

We have no other home away from Home

- here upon this world of earth and fire -

than our one Republic of the Philippines;

we are but one vessel, one boat, one ship.

My brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we can no longer afford to be complacent.

There is no pulling ourselves back up river

for once it runs down water,

it must eventually reach the sea.

---<--@

Think about it -

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light (spirit).

And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness (judgment).

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (authority).

- Genesis 1: 3-5

Power is what calms the sea, it is what divides the waters, it is what distinguishes the light from the darkness.

Among the nations, power is the presence of authority.

Likewise, lack of authority is the absence of power.

(Please also see - One Song Meow: Power.)

The Paradox of Power

Sheltering Wings

Salutation #84

Peace is the medium for our togetherness

- the freedom to be one heart and one mind -

'tis the spirit that binds each our souls together;

the completeness that makes our generations belong;

the unity which is the foundation of our prosperity.

(Building Together)

Let's go Philippines

- let's build, build, build -

build those timeless connections,

build those lasting institutions,

build good, nay - great government,

build better infrastructure,

build better roads and better bridges,

build better railways and better airways,

build great monuments to life and the art of life,

build wholly responsible businesses,

build wholesome relationships,

build stronger families,

build all those legacies to last...

mabuhay!

And may the Peace of the LORD be with us all.

- selah -

Bear into thy mind and heart - always -

We are not building a Republic to last a year or ten years.

We are building a shelter of Country for all our generations

unto the last of our generations.

This is the truth.

---<--@

Salutation #82

2012 is going to be a very difficult road.

Our only safety is our unity.

Remember,

a nation is meant not only to overcome these trials

but to prevail against the unknown earth

- and - as one family,

transform it into a world

so full of living lights.

(2012)

A short word on 2012 -

First of all,

do not be overly anxious.

Do not trade reason for superstition.

Neither allow your faith be undone with fear.

We all know there is much to be concerned about this year of years.

So let me assure you - here and now -

even at the headwaters,

that despite all of these fears,

2012 shall be what we make of it.

For we are a nation, my people - we belong.

No nation upon this earth is ruled by random chance.

Neither is our Eternal belongings - one to another -

established by our God and true Sovereign

for purposes that are manifestly evil;

that lead to our ultimate undoing.

For all things come together for the good

for all who love and fear the LORD!

And we are a nation, my people - we belong.

So welcome 2012 -

bring on your troubles and your trials,

let in all your overcast days, your doom and gloom,

let loose your tempest and your buffeting fury

and let this temper us in our nationhood.

Let your uncertainly make us certain.

Because the journey toward all our tomorrows

must now begin today.

---<--@

Ngayon

The Ascent

In those great sweeps of ambiguity,

the framers of our present Constitution defined for this nation,

by the ideals they have established for our Republic,

that great and abiding paradigm

of liberty for our people.

For these ideals guide,

as a unifying sense of vision and direction,

and give us counsel

according to (1) how we interpret our freedom,

(2) how we live it, and (3) how we learn it,

ever ascending with but one ascent to the truth.

---<--@