Salutation #195

(The Sun of Liberty)

The Sun in our Flag represents Liberty. 

T'is the Sun in our Republic Sky,
A light to our labors by Day,
A comfort to our dreams by Night.
It guides our Country ever forward.
Our Nation it shields against the darkness.
It is a warmth to all our peoples.
The sight in their eyes.

It is the gold of Eternity.
It is the Splendor of Truth.
The Light of the Divine Presence.

The radiance of the Shekhinah Glory.

It is the Peace in our midst.

Freedom to bring our peoples 

And our generations courageously forth 

Unto the fullness of Country

And liberation from every bondage of slavery.

It is symbolic of the Philippine State.
And unites together our three Foundation Stars.
---<--@

Personal Reflection

The Sun on our Flag is a potent symbol of the Philippine State.

Imagine the sun above the sky, how it shines evenly on all people. How it seeks to belong to all equally. Imagine how its light allows us to know the sight in our eyes.

Reflect upon its warmth by day. Reflect upon its guidance by night.

Meditate how free it is. How our freedoms are bounded by its freedom. How it informs and shapes what is sacred and absolute to our Liberty. Imagine its cycles and seasons and how it shapes our living culture.

How constantly it renews in our nation, the life of our generations.
---<--@

I. The Naming

The First language knew no words -
it came winged, freely to the heart
and spoke as Motion, and was truth;
understood in action, known to All.

To Old Defiant, an ode -



O Islands,
Who art Thou
but thy own Name!

Who art Thou
but that - the Name
within thy name.

For if Thine own Heart
is within each thine own heart -
Then Thou art a Spirit at-One with Thyself
and a Nation at-Peace among thy peoples!

Therefore -

Must it matter to Thee,
what vanity Thou art called
by a world that knows thee not?

Must it matter to Thee,
what fleeting judgments it spake
than the Truth that ever burns
brightly in Thy bosom?

- selah -

Thou art a Nation
born among the Nations
(of the children of Mankind)
descended from the inaugural lineage
of the Sons of the Holy Patriarch Noah
and so Thine too is the everlasting Covenant
which preserveth the life of the Inhabited Earth.

For Thou art a Nation
among a Family of Nations
each of us distinct yet all the same,
together commissioned by the LORD
at the East Gate of fallen and faded Eden
and together endowed by our God with
each our own purposes and times.

As a Tree among many trees
grown under heaven upon the earth,
We are arisen to bless this barren world
in behalf of the children of Mankind
for the forbearance of Memory,
the Life of the generations,
and the sustenance of
All living souls!

What must matter to Thee - is -
what must matter to the life and the labor
of our Nationhood and not what vanity there is!

For every tree is known by its fruit.

Thou art humanity with belonging.
Thou art sufficiency through reliance.
Thou art harmony and togetherness.

And Peace is Thy common Salutation.

Bravery and Faithfulness
are thy most ancient of names.
---<--@

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.

Gathering Sense

My fellow Filipinos,

how shall we know each other?

We shall know each other

by the love that we profess for this Republic - and -

to the people for whom we, together, stand

to serve and defend forever.

Fly Old Defiant,

arise like a swift and sure sunrise,

arise in hearts of all thy servants,

making us ready, making us one.

Salutation #77

Let our Banner be unto thyself a symbol of unity, my people,

and let it fly in thy heart out of love of God and Country.

Yea, let this Banner fly in thy heart of hearts or not at all!

For if this one kind of love is absent in the absent heart of Man,

there shall our Country be found nowhere in creation.

- Salutation #10 (Old Defiant)

(Old Defiant vs. Old Compliant)

Peace, I salute you.

I should like to emphasize in us again,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

the importance of unity over division -

especially in the midst of this brewing crisis

between our President and our Chief Justice.

Remember,

I am not writing here

about the impeachment trial

- or any external event that must also concern us -

I am writing primarily about you (about us) -

the citizen-servant.

For everything that proceeds in our Republic,

proceeds from the concentrated strength of its spirit

in your soul (our souls).

As regards the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona

and the divisions it is sparking in our nation,

if you are in any way interested

in what I have to think about the matter - personally,

please refer to the running commentary

I have opened here.

However,

if you are still sincerely confused about the matter,

you may inhibit yourselves from participating in the public debate

and remain in the safety of your own areas of service.

It is never fair to have to be made to choose

between two co-equal, independent branches

of our one Republic government

in the Responsible State.

Again,

our central focus here

is to make this an exercise in unity

so do not allow your own mind and heart

to become bitterly embroiled in the politics

and the divisions that must surround this event

- without having a clear mind -

as to where your freedom and your independence truly lies.

Completely refrain from adding your own flame

to the many conflagrations that threaten to consume our Country

but rather add it to the unifying light that gives her comfort and warmth,

bolstering her strength to see us all through this long night;

this longest night...

- selah -

(I am reposting this piece from 20110402.)

Something's missing from my Philippines. Something vital.

Who knows her?

These days, everybody seems to be living for themselves alone. It seems no one remembers her.

By this, she is grieved and therefore, draws further and further away into isolation.

For the spirit of Country, my honorable compatriots, is a spirit of self-belonging. It is a self-cognizant, collective sense of self.

And the Republic is a guardian to a people orphaned by war.

Thus, if the people are divided in their hearts against each other, they are scattered.

And the people are scattered because of those distant and faded hearts; hearts that seem to no longer recognize the spirit of this Republic; hearts that have come to accept the rule of War.

Hence, the spirit of Country is diluted.

And when there is no substance left in our remembrance, when there is no peace left to abide in our belonging, when there is no truth left to empower our will of Country, we shall cease to exist as a nation.

But while our history still fills the hunger in our souls, while there is yet a common longing for better days burning in our hearts, while there is yet those who remember and believe, while there is yet even a few who are brave and true, by the grace of Almighty God, war will never have us.

Truly, my nation, this is not a very good time for the spirit of war. For this is exactly why the colors of our own Country is called Old Defiant.

We have a choice. Let it mean something:

Let us defy division, let us defy corruption, let us defy poverty, let us defy evil and prosper, my fellow Filipino compatriots - together this time.

Let us defend where we must, O my nation Philippines, and leave all else to the invulnerable, omnipotent defense of the LORD, our God, the one Sovereign of all nations.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

The Truth

20111111

(NOTE: I often use this double reminder below to remind each of us of the deeper underpinnings of our sacred remembrances - external as well as internal in their manifestation - being both temporal and eternal, corporal and spiritual.)

Lest We Forget. Lest We Forget.

Peace, I salute you.

Today is commemorated Veteran's Day in the USA and Armistice Day in Europe, including Australia, New Zealand and others.

It is a day of remembrance; a solemn day, a blessed day, a day of days. It is a day of common military remembrances and is therefore, a day of peace.

My fellow Filipino brothers and sisters of the Promise, I know for a fact we do not commemorate November 11 here in the Philippines but we should at least try to learn to understand what makes this day valuable to the sacred remembrances of many nations - for we are part of just one family.

In doing this, we are not only being generous - to ourselves and to our other kinder nations - we are being responsible - for ourselves and for our other kindred nations.

- selah -

Therefore, I write this here today to formally and officially remind us that, however dark the past may have been for all our nations - without exception, we belong to just one family.

Indeed, the past has been terrible and dark: For the spirit of War has deceived us all.

The truth is that all our nations, however great or small and however diverse our distinctions, belong to only one true belonging - so let us remember this today - that we are truly only one global community and let us try to meaningfully commemorate our peace with each other as nations - dreaming together this time.

Let us remember that our Philippines is - and shall forever remain - integral to this one family of nations - represented by our United Nations institution.

Let us say, "I remember you, my brother, I remember you, my sister - mabuhay!"

Let us say, "I remember, I remember."

---<--@

Shifting Paradigms -

When we talk about remembrance we essentially speak about the substance of our inspiration.

This is why we should be wary of evil inspiration because the source of all evil inspiration is false remembrance.

You only have to shift your focus to see that the night sky is so full of stars...

(Photo courtesy of Harmony Lovelife and Haragan Makamandag - Go 1ID 35IB!)

Our brave soldiers - who can bear not to love them...

Despite all the controversy (and these days it seems controversy is everywhere), in the darkness, above the fleeting clouds, they are there -

standing steadfastly,

preserving our best military traditions,

shimmering with virtue and valor,

ever ready, ever faithful,

ever hopeful for better, kinder days,

guarding our better tomorrows -

Therefore, I do not choose to believe in controversy.

However deep the night goes, I choose to believe in you

(for I believe in Justice and the good fight)

I choose to believe in our better selves -

and as sure as I live and breathe today,

the morning will surely come

for our beloved Land of the Morning.

Go team AFP - go PA - mabuhay!

---<--@

You only have to shift your focus to see that the night sky is so full of stars...

Often, when all that we care to remember

is how huge the darkness and how frail and tiny the light,

we weep bitterly unto despair

and completely forget

which one is pure substance

and which one is pure illusion.

Be inspired about the right things and they will produce in you, the right things.

Be inspired about the wrong things and they will produce in you, the wrong things.

So do good and abhor evil by doing good. Do not be by evil inspired.

For even if you fight evil through its own evil inspiration in yourself, it shall eventually consume you.

---<--@

It is not the severity of Justice but the certainty of Justice that deters good people from becoming less virtuous than they should and evil people from becoming more criminal than they deserve.

---<--@

Love your Country.

Your Country is the land where your parents sleep,

where is spoken that language

in which the chosen of your heart, blushing,

whispered the first word of love;

it is the home that God has given you

that by striving to perfect yourselves therein

you may prepare to ascend to Him.

- Giuseppe Mazzini

---<--@

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

...the brightness of thy Banner undiminished in triumph waves, the glory of thy stars and sun are lights that shall ne'er fade...

P.S.

Today I also commemorate 2 years of recovery. I am so glad to say, this is a battle I now know I can win. I thank each of you for your prayers and your support! (You all know who you are.)

Salutation #66

How long before we can bring them relief?

To many it shall be too late...

How shall we stand accountable

- for our gift of belonging to each other -

to the God of all heaven and earth?

How shall we explain

our claim to rightful citizenship?

(Identifying with the Peace)

I am for Peace.

I am passionate for the peace.

I will always be for peace.

But I am not for endless talk without fruit.

And the fruit I am seeking

is every form of good

- both in heaven and on the earth -

which is edible to our people

and eternally pleasing to the God of all peoples:

the LORD - our King - and one Sovereign of all nations;

fruit which is especially wholesome - for the littlest Filipino -

on the ground of our Land of the Morning.

I am the same as War - in that -

I do not discriminate between distinctions

that make a Filipino into his or her own unique person.

A hungry Filipino is a hungry Filipino

- no matter the differences -

that make us into Christians, Muslims, or Lumads;

male or female, young or old, better or worse, richer or poorer -

for we are one nation, my beloved people!

All our generations is entrusted by the LORD to the care of each other

and our singular consecration before the God in Eternity is to life;

unto the life of our nation is invested the hope of Sacred Life

all plant and all animal life, both great and small,

especially those who are native to our lands

- above all human life!

Peace is our common salutation.

---<--@

Fly Old Defiant:

Defy War. Defy Darkness. Defy Evil. Defy Corruption. Defy Poverty.

Prosper the Peace! Prosper the People!

Salutation #53

(A Dream of Daybreak)

O my Philippines,

if I could take my dream of you

and make it come true today, I will...

Day by day

- I gaze at you -

like a slow but sure awakening dawn.

You were never that easy.

You were never that cheap.

Your vision, O Pearl of the Orient,

- as it appears to the eye of my heart -

is a dream so fraught with difficulties,

it must be a hope worth living and dying for.

Indeed,

many of thy greatest lovers have gone to their rest

bearing with them this - one hope -

of making thy dream come true.

(Truly, their flame is our flame

for the rest of us desire what they desire.)

Your allure is that overpowering...

Your beauty, my Country,

was never taken away from me,

but always here,

waiting to be found,

passing quietly from generation to generation.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Fly Old Defiant:

Defy War. Defy Darkness. Defy Evil. Defy Corruption. Defy Poverty.

Prosper the Peace! Prosper the People!

20110707

Salutation #31

(Who is Greatest?)

PEACE be with you, Starshine -

The question may arise

from issues arising from the most recent history of our world

about the better undertaking of Country

between an orphaned nation and its Republic

and those nations who yet possess (and are therefore still possessed of)

its original line of hereditary rulers -

its kings, queens, and princes - eternally elect of old.

Let us bear in mind - first of all -

that we now live in a different paradigm

than the one before our age:

The better undertaking of Country

is the one best able to fulfill its mission

mandated by heaven

and established by the LORD

from the autumnal dusk of our faded Eden -

at the very beginning of exile time

and the long march of our nations -

whether which one, it depends singularly

on its will of obedience

and submission to the truth

invested by God in all human nations -

for all Country is ruled by its own remembrance of these.

The nearer we are to the Peace that prospers,

the further we are from the War that scatters -

the nearer we are to the War that scatters,

the further we shall stray from the memory of God and Nation,

and the worse shall the atmosphere of our Country become.

A Monarchy that is faithful is better than a Republic that is adulterous to itself.

Likewise, a Monarchy that is no longer possessed

of its own virtue as an institution intrinsic to the Responsible State

being eternally invested by the LORD

with the singular authority to order the government of its people in the nation

is worse than a Republic yet caught in the chaos of its own revolution.

For a Monarchy without its virtue is in reality a tyranny in all but name.

No Country upon this earth at this point in time

is truly ignorant of the calling

to which we are all inclined by these times to fulfill -

for the world upon which we have all invested

our lives, our labors and our fortunes together as nations

is but one world and it lies in great peril.

We all are part of the strength that will deliver this world to promise.

Or doom it by our own ill will for other people and other nations.

Therefore, we must always seek

to preserve the national good will in each our selves.

Let us say, "peace be to all the nations

of the one family of the nations of Mankind -

glory, honor, and praise be to the LORD, our King forever."

For it is sufficient for us to know

that all human nations are ruled by their remembrance -

not by any random chance, and never by War.

And since we are a Republic,

my honorable Filipino compatriots,

let us be imbued with the spirit of a Republic in our soul.

Let us make this Country of ours work not by being better

- or think that we are better -

than other Countries but by being better

than our own worst selves.

For it is only by besting the false image of ourselves

that we shall truly succeed - together this time.

What we shall attract come 2012

at the time of our testing as nations together this time

depend singularly on the convictions we are building here today -

for there is nothing random about the things that happen to nations.

Individual awakenings lead to a national awakening

(

2009-2012 - work of the heart).

National awakenings lead to a general strengthening of our one family of nations

(

2012-2045 - work of the hands).

- selah -

Starshine,

the greatest undertaking of Country upon our earth

depends on where you are placed by the Providence of God -

if you choose to grow where you are planted,

if you choose to shine as you should

in the darkness where you are most needed,

by the power of the LORD, thy most beneficent God,

through the blessings of Providence Divine,

then that place is the greatest place in the world

for you and for everybody around you.

The greatest is the most faithful.

---<--@

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

On Obedience

Panunumpa sa Watawat ng Pilipinas

Panunumpa sa Watawat ng Pilipinas

Current official version -

Ako ay Pilipino
Buong katapatang nanunumpa
Sa Watawat ng Pilipinas
At sa bansang kanyang sinasagisag
Na may dangal, katarungan at kalayaan
Na pinakikilos ng sambayanang
Maka-Diyos, Makatao,
Makakalikasan at
Makabansa.

Pledge of Allegiance to the Philippine Flag

English Translation -

I am a Filipino
I pledge my allegiance
To the Flag of the Philippines
And to the Country it represents
With honor, justice and freedom
Put in motion by one nation
For God, humanity,
Nature and
Country.

---<--@

The Panunumpa ng Katapatan sa Watawat ng Pilipinas is the pledge to the Flag of the Philippines. It is one of two national pledges, the other being the Panatang Makabayan, which is the Philippine national pledge.

The pledge was legalized under Executive Order No. 343, approved by then-President Fidel V. Ramos on Independence Day (June 12), 1996, and subsequently by the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines, or Republic Act No. 8491. The law makes no statement of what language the pledge must be recited in, but the pledge is written (and therefore recited) in Filipino.

Fly Old Defiant:

Defy War. Defy Darkness. Defy Evil. Defy Corruption. Defy Poverty.

Prosper the Peace! Prosper the People!

Salutation #10

Today is Flag Day.

(Old Defiant)

Peace, I salute you.

Of the colors of Old Defiant, all are well known to you.

Save perhaps for two, the color white and the color gold -

The white of our Flag is the color of Chastity -

a love of purity and of good and wholesome relationships.

It is the unseen structure that preserves

human dignity and human promise -

the medium of our common respect for all human life.

For a citizen is not a citizen in this land

were it not for other citizens like unto him or herself.

The gold of our Flag is the color of Eternity -

unfading, unyielding, changeless and constant.

When all things in this world have faded away,

it is from Eternity that all things shall too be restored.

For gold is the color of the Presence -

the Aura of the glory of LORD,

it is the Hand that leads the Angels,

it is the Shine that guide the heart of Man.

Let our Banner be unto thyself a symbol of unity, my people,

and let it fly in thy heart out of love of God and Country.

Yea, let this Banner fly in thy heart of hearts or not at all!

For if this one kind of love is absent in the absent heart of Man,

there shall our Country be found nowhere in creation.

By love of God and Country we are refined, my people -

our culture, our products, our well-being -

all of these may only benefit

from the advancements

wrought by our present determination

to advance the cause of Country -

in our lives, in our families,

in our tribes, and in our communities

across our nation, in our own present time,

and across our generations

to the very last of our generations.

Without it, we are lost.

Ah, but we are here now, my nation,

and we are present for the peace.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Fly Old Defiant:

Defy War. Defy Darkness. Defy Evil. Defy Corruption. Defy Poverty.

Prosper the Peace! Prosper the People!

20110522

The 1st Cause: The Cause of Sacred Life - God

"Sacred Life is all of life, plant and animal, above all human life."

This is the Cause for which all the other Causes exist:

Sacred Life is All of life, seen and unseen, as well as all of life's distinctly individual relationships with and to the LORD, our God, the one Creator of all of life, first of all and then to each other - Angels first, then Man, then animals, then trees, then plants.

It includes both being (dignity) and becoming (potential) especially in the visible realms of Man.

To this Cause belong the exercise of Christian charity - as a sacred duty - which is compassion, kindness, and mercy tempering truth, common humanity, and justice in that order.

It bids all human hearts - Love first, all else follows.

Because Our God, O my beloved of my heart, is a God of relationships.

---<--@

The Noahide Covenant: The Covenant of the Nations

"You shall love the LORD, thy God, O my nation, with everything and in everything."

Reading: Genesis 9: 1-17 -

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: "Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.

Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered.

Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants.

Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.

For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life.

If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made.

Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it."

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:

"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you

and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark.

I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."

God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you:

I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds,

I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.

As the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and recall the everlasting covenant that I have established between God and all living beings--all mortal creatures that are on earth."

God told Noah: "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all mortal creatures that are on earth."

---<--@

O Unspeakable Beauty

O UNSPEAKABLE BEAUTY that surrounds, penetrates and transcends into eternity, O Beauty that shines forever brightly, ever here and ever there, ever always present in places sacred to Thy holy remembrance, in places found within the soul of every creature in need of Thee.

Arise in me and cure me of my deformity, my perversity, my ugliness, my constant rebellion.

Though I weep with guilt and shame at every thought of Thee, though I should recede back into the darkness where I truly belong, Thou has seen into my soul and my soul has caught a glimpse of Thee!

O what can a mere creature do at the hint of Thee, O unspeakable Beauty?

By Thy own Truth, Thou hast enraptured my heart and now I am madly in love with Thee.

I reject all that is not Thee!

Ever in spite of me, I constantly long for Thee, I thirst and I hunger for Thee.

O Beauty, Thou art Beautiful for Thy being Beautiful, who can resist Thee?

Bless me, convince me, lead me on and fulfill what Thou sees as Thy reflection in me. Become the fullness of Thy own image and likeness that Thou has imparted in me, and lose me forever into the depths of Thy Being.

Make use of me and recreate me into an instrument of Thy holy creation and a servant to all Thy beautiful works of divine artistry.

O wonderful God, O wonderful God! O what majesty! O what glory! O what Beauty! Thou art truly Beautiful for Thy being Beautiful.

Arise in the hearts of all Thy servants, arise in our poor world, that we may learn to see what is beautiful for being beheld by Thee.

Abide in us, O dearest LORD and Love of my love, spread upon our souls Thine infinite horizons and become for each one of us as the breaking of the new dawn from on high.

AMEN.

---<--@

One Heart, One People, One Destiny

My fellow Filipino compatriots,

in the Final Accounting of all things, it shall be shown and made known to to All that

we are a nation distinct

but not apart from all our other kindred nations - a human nation, allied to the kindred peace of all the other nations of our one family of nations.

We are a nation, my brothers and sisters of the Promise, and so it is as a nation

that we shall be held responsible by both heaven and earth before the God of all heaven and earth.

As a nation, O my people, we are by our individualities, families, tribes, communities and generations bound by one heart, one labor, and one destiny.

We are thus called, according to our fidelity to the truths of our nationhood, to make a shelter for our generations, the shelter of Country - a home away from Home for all living beings.

As a nation, we shall rise or fall upon the void of the unknown earth

according to the one peace of our peoples and the one economy of our generations to the very last of our generations.

As a nation, we shall build upon this world, the kindred peace of Country to the glory of Almighty God in heaven,

and fill it with living lights

or lay it to waste by our refusal to

subdue the darkness in and amidst ourselves - the evil in all evil things.

As a nation without its peace, we shall fail - a defeated Country, desolate and empty of promise, of broken, shattered skies, we shall remain in the dread embrace of this maddening darkness, falling forever into the void.

As a nation in possession of our peace, we shall persevere.

Victory shall in its time be restored to each of us by God Himself where w

e shall together with our own eyes behold

the triumph of an unimaginable abundance.

As a nation, we are called by weight of our history and by the call of our destiny to rise above our differences.

And to do so with courage and tenacity for h

ow else is peace to be defended?

Indeed, my honorable compatriots, it matters most what unites us than what divides us.

Our differences are diverse and the cause of many valid concerns,

but they are temporal.

Unity is eternal.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Fly Old Defiant:

Defy War. Defy Darkness. Defy Evil. Defy Corruption. Defy Poverty.

Prosper the Peace! Prosper the People!