Time and For Always

There are some things reflected in their moments...

when the soul is struck by a sudden impression of a great majesty...

or the spirit is instantly moved by an act of great nobility...

When you see a glimpse of what is beautiful in the common everyday...

When the heart sees glimpses of what is true in time... what is for always...


Moments that unconsciously invite unto thy external observation
the sweet expectation that there may exist an unseen realm
apart and beyond what is visible and temporal...

Seeker, how may the soul of Man have an expectation of what in time is for always?

If the human soul itself exists upon temporal realms alone
and therefore perishable and corporeal with the physical body,
why does it delight in things spiritual, in moments that are for always?

Indeed the souls of animals and plants do not indulge in spiritual matters absolutely.

If the soul of Man is no different, why do we persist to contradict ourselves
and seek those things beyond the immediate
and risk the ruin of our species?

Why do we possess souls that need to seek and to be sought
in the spiritual and not just the corporeal?

Seeker, 'tis because...

we are human.
---<--@

The Archetypal Hero

True self-expression makes heroes of us all.

=^.^=

I think there is a hero
hidden in every person.

We all have our right moments...

When this hero inside of ourselves arise
to uphold something good in this world.

The wonderful thing about this
I have found is:



Each time the hero in ourselves arise to save something good,
it arises to save that something good in ourselves first...

That something good in ourselves reflected in the other person
that the hero in ourselves implicitly recognize...

Whether we know it or not, when it arises, within that moment

we act.

In a way, it might be meant
that we save each other,
you see.

Because in a way, we are all heroes.

It just might be the way it is.

- selah -

The question then is this:

This hero spark,
our precious Starshine,
from Whom did we get it?
---<--@

A different kind of different, are you up to it?

The Queen of Broken Bread

I once was a sower. Sowing seeds.
I planted in heaven. My own needs.
There once was a Lady. She came to see.
From a Kingdom of Sowers. Who were we.

My name is happiness. I said to her.
I carry a yoke. Too heavy to bear.
The land is barren. The water is poor.
The harvest is thin. The weather unsure.

I am a Woman of such those things. Said she.
From a Kingdom of Seeds. Came her to me.
Do you know me? This Woman asked of me.
A kindly dressed maiden from across the sea...

Saint Maximilian taught me my Marian spirituality.

Honestly though, I am far from being the Marian Knight that my Patron Saint is - in service to the Queen of Heaven and Earth. So very far...

Our Lady filled the skies above my soul with stars.
She is the Queen of Broken Bread.
She magnifies Christian joy.

Knowing her is to understand an easy kind of splendor unmatched by any Saint...

A magnificence so pure and awesome yet sweet, 
kindly relenting to souls of much lesser brightness.

God broke me before I came to know religion. Religion was for me, an mere extension of myself - a way to project ego. It was a kind of power that made me feel good about myself.

All of this happened mostly unnoticed by my mind numbed and distorted by sin and vice. It was a fearful thing when I think about it now. Terrible. It exposed me to dangers everywhere, seen and unseen.

I was a self-righteous ass. Stubborn as a mule. This was the me deep inside of me - and above my soul was nothing. My soul was dead to itself, it saw not, it heard not, and it lived for nothing.

I wasn't all that bad. All that time, I strived to be good. I tried my best to be better. But always fell short. I was never truly happy about anything I did. Nothing seemed to stay on.

I think as human beings we instinctively understand that doing good is good for us. Animals instinctively understand it too. But to us humans, there is a bit more - for we seek a happiness animals shall never either understand or desire.

In all ages, all our attempts at society everywhere have ebbed and flowed with this same basic human desire for happiness in mind.

Animals are content to be content. But human beings wish for the power to dictate how it is that we shall be content - we desire a freedom which is simultaneously a happiness and we desire it in perfection. 

This perfection to us is blessed felicity. At the same time, it is a time honored impossibility.

Neither Man nor his society alone may satisfy what we all ultimately want. Thus, we warred and fought and died in droves through the ages. Terrible.

Now, this need to be happy and this want for a perfect happiness is also in me.

But as I was yet unbroken, I received a lot of pounding from Providence indeed. And it was Mama Mary who gave for me that one final blow that broke my ego.

She made me realize she was a reality apart from my own reality. That she was separate...

It might sound simplistic right now. But at the onset of it all, it was terrifying to me... Many of my old selfish notions were overturned - much like the tables of the sellers in the Temple.

I had our Lady's support though. And she made it so that I also had the support of more than a few good friends, seen and unseen, who helped keep me sane though it all.

In letting go of old molds, I understood the character of lasting friendships - that connection that in the Gospel our Savior mentioned is as brother, sister, and mother all in one - the friendships of angels.

That we are like a sky, night and day, full of multitudes - shining for God.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, through those years it had pleased our Lady to teach me to see each my relationships and their connections in a wholly different light. Suddenly, the skies above my soul were not so empty after all.

It was this one whole sky that led me to Jesus and to God.

After all, can one navigate the night of the soul without light or sight of any kind?

One can pretend as I did. Or one can know. We can pray.

I am not perfect still. I don't think I ever will in this life. The difference now is I know joy. I am no orphan to joy. At the core of me, there is joy. Amidst my problems and my struggles, there is joy.

And it all began with the Queen of Broken Bread.

It is just like Pope Francis said, those of us who neglect loving and knowing Mary are like orphans...

God never intends for any of us to be orphans though - in more ways than we may know. Isn't this joyful in itself? The embodiment of all of that reflecting in our humanity - is Mary, our Mother.

I think that is what Marian spirituality is really all about - being joyful.

And of finding ways to share Christian joy through works our faith teaches us, that our Savior taught us.

Not being dour and overly solicitous about the complexities of life and of being trustful as a child, even in the midst of the roaring lions of everyday problems that seek to devour our little hopes.

So today is Mama Mary's birthday. Let us be joyful for her that we may in ourselves discover how simple it is not to be complicated in a complicated time.
---<--@

St. John Paul II, 
Pope of my heart, my Holy Father most memorable.

You were to the Church in the world, our Good Shepherd during the formative years of my life.

And saw my generation through those tumultuous years.

Help us build a better, brighter, safer world.

Lead us on today...

Help us to know Mary. Help us comprehend Christian joy and see in loving others as Christ did the wealth neither tyrant nor thief may remove from our souls.
---<--@ 

Unmoved

Unmoved.

Thought is not thinking.
When thinking happens. Thought is the environment.
Thought is a realm greater than the thinker.
Much greater than what the thinker may think.

Time in the mind is a place detached from space.

It is a spirit landscape. Fleeting. Ephemeral. Restless.

It is bright towards the dawn. Away from the light, dark.
Ebbing and flowing as a tide. There are nights without end.

If the mind is not a seeker. And the thinking is not led.

Every twilight becomes a riddle. Every crossroads confuse.

And as the questions lead to a nowhere that is deep.
The journey itself retreat.

If the knower and teacher are one:

Where in thy mind may daybreak ever meet?

If the knower and teacher are one...
If the mind is not a seeker. And the thinking is not led.
A mind in standing still is like a person standing still.
Unmoved. Truly so! Where then is the learner?
Aren't thou a student to thy own soul?

Unmoved.

Light is beloved to the living.
To the truly living, it bestows true sight.
Indeed all knowledge must be beloved to the learned.
But the knowing is not possessed by the knowledge itself.
It is in the loving.

Knowledge is an instrument Love lends the mind.
That the eye of the understanding become opened unto itself.
We may not seek with a lively sight what we do not know.
We can not love with a virile spirit what we do not seek.

Soon enough, in her own time, Love will take back her Wisdom.
Whatever season that may be, all knowledge will return to its Beloved.
And thy love shall leave for thee, Seeker, its own harvest.
That the soul may understand plenitude or penury.

A thinking mind is an unmoved traveler, a seeker of truth.
A seeking mind is a hearing heart, a lover of song and star.

Unmoved.

Where then is the learner?
Aren't thou a student to thy own soul?
---<--@

The Ghost of Things to Come

I hate it when I see beauty in things...

I hate it that beauty is fleeting...

I know beauty is fleeting however,
not because of the beautiful in ourselves
and in all creation...

Beauty is fleeting
because of what is not beautiful.

Beauty is fleeting
that we may better remember her.
---<--@

Getting Clear

=^.^=

I am a believer in free choice. I was molded this way.
I believe in the importance of living your own experiences.

And of living up to them.

Our elders may offer up advice. Whether we listen or not.
They are like seeds they sow, you know, in the soil of young hearts.

As we live on. And in our soul, the orchard of our memories begin to grow.
We will one day recognize those truths, they wanted us to know.

These days, you see, I came to know better...
For all the choices I made. Right and wrong. The trail never fades.

Those words once said, you know. Come a time. They will in your life come aglow.
And in time, like the mighty seeds of tall and steadfast trees.

Their wisdom will in you grow.

For the road ahead seem tamer for me now. Along with the wanderer in me somehow.
Lined with those trees. Once not much higher than my knees. Planted a half-a-time ago.

These were the noble seeds of many truths placed in my soul long before.
Some from dear old voices I shall never upon this world hear evermore.

Now, upon this road I pave with my peers - siblings, cousins, and friends, I shall travel on.
From a time always near. As the stars become clear. By the memory of better things, I shall.

And so hallowed moments, never may it fade. With each fading year, may they only grow near.
For these are my lolos and lolas, my papa/s and my mom/s, ninongs and ninangs, titos and titas...

O the salt of so many tears! Shining together. Wept as one. From past to present gathered.

Thus, didst salt preserve. The memory. Coming sweetly now. From evil delivered somehow.
Ever with each hurt overgrown, by the fruits of wiser fears. Better came my days, getting clear.

---<--@

One Garden, One Door

You alone may enter the door to your own dreaming.

You must never seek to enter into your dreams by any other door.

You alone may nurture the garden within your own soul.

You must never seek to compare it. Nor must you abandon it for others.

There is only one garden. There is only one door.
---<--@

The Power of Belief

Whether we believe the Philippines can succeed or not.

We are right.
---<--@

Starshine dearest,

To the dreamer, the Dream -

and to the Nation, the dreaming.

To the beholder of dreams, the vision.

To the lovers of the Republic, the Republic
To the friends of tomorrow, tomorrow
To the stewards of Liberty, Liberty
To the keepers of hope, hope.

To the believer, everything.
---<--@

Zealous for Souls

God is.
And that is all.

God is - because life is.
Life is because - we are.

We are because - the soul is.
And the soul is because - God is.

And God is - unto all things living
for God is - the God of all the living!

- selah -

The soul is
possessed not -
of its own life.

It receives its being from
- the LORD Who is -
and life is its being.

From it,
arise every nature
of everything living.

And thus
by nature
is alive.

For all that is
in spirit - is alive.

It flows forth
from the soul
and is alive.

- selah -

What heart could truly love
without having beheld the beautiful?

The soul contains the living Breath
that breathes into everything that is - alive.

Separate it not from its Maker.

'Tis a manifestation of the Truth of its God.

Esteem it not by its smallness.

- selah -

What mind could truly think
without having thought about truth?

The soul is - the principle of life.
For God is - and gives shape to its being.

Mistake it not for its Master.

'Tis a reflection of the Life of its Creator.

Regard it not by its fragments.

- selah -

Why then, Starshine,
dost the eye of the heart
in regarding a soul without God
claimeth it has seen the soul
when it thinks of naught
but utter disrespect for life?

Who could trust the darkness
when it speaks of itself
about the light?

Thy own soul, precious Starshine,
may only be truly perceived
by other living souls.

That thou art by Beauty beheld!

Therefore -

Do not despair with those
who in death and in desolation
seeketh to perceive life in the living.

Neither weep with those
whose pre-occuppation with evil
have moved them to seek what is good.

There are some who seek,
who find they never find.

Yet, precious Starshine,
there are some who seek,
who are eventually found.

- selah -

Dear Starshine, the eye
that seeth far - into the soul
knoweth from where it proceeds.

It has come to know the majesty
of a myriad unfolding universes.

For it has come to behold the glory
of such dreams - in a grain of sand...

It beheld them in their moments,
as worlds upon worlds arising,
as truths that are everlasting,
and so - knoweth Spirit.

By the Love
through which one shines
far into the darkness - and into
the reality of other souls.

And in the Truth
through which one reaches
deep into the darkness - and into
the reality of other hearts.

- selah -

The soul is -
the principle of life.

And life is -
what gives shape to its being.

Being is
- what makes everything exist -
as they are.

And the soul is
- the being of its life -
being in every living being.

All have their being - because life is.

Thus,
all in Creation is -
because life is.

- selah -

In lower creation, being is
a soul - that is - in each - a soul.

'Tis in the trees and the plants of the earth.
'Tis in the animals of the land, sea, and air.

And gives them life.

- selah -

In higher creation, being is
a soul - that is - in each - a living soul.

'Tis in each Angel up in the heavens above.
'Tis in each Man here upon the earth below.

And gives us life.
And the knowledge of life.

- selah -

The soul of every Man
is heart and mind.

'Tis heart and mind
united as one!

For the heart proceeds.
And the mind knoweth.

 - selah -

And so the heart is in darkness.
And love awakens in darkness.

For the heart in every Man
knoweth not - 'tis a heart.

- selah -

And so the mind is in darkness.
And thought arises in darkness.

For the mind in every Man
knoweth not - 'tis a mind.

- selah -

The Beloved
beholds the heart
and the heart knows -
'tis a heart!

And the heart
in beholding the Beloved
beholds the Beautiful.

- selah -

The heart
in knowing itself
knoweth - thought.

And love
in knowing thought
knoweth - mind.

- selah -

The Beautiful
beholds the mind
and the mind knows -
'tis a mind!

And the mind
in beholding the Beautiful
beholds the Beloved.

- selah -

The mind
in knowing itself
knoweth - truth.

And love
in knowing truth
knoweth - self.

- selah -

The soul of every Man
is heart and mind.

'Tis heart and mind
united as one!

And spirit is - its brightness!

In the heart,
where the seat of the soul is,
'tis a brightness of love.

In the mind,
where the seat of the intellect is,
'tis a brightness of truth.

- selah -

For the heart proceeds.

As love must
from the seat of the soul
proceed -

And the mind knoweth.

As truth must
through the love in the heart
succeed -

And spirit is - its brightness!

- selah -

For the heart proceeds.

As the stars must
from the power of their being
shine forth -

And the mind knoweth.

As the stars must
through the reality of their truth
shine forth -

And spirit is - its brightness!

- selah -

Spirit is brightness.

For love
is the life of the heart
and beholds - the Beloved.

Love is -
not because of the heart:

For love
is the way of
every human heart.

- selah -

Truth is fullness.

For - the truth
is the light of the mind
and beholds -  the Beautiful.

Truth is -
not because of the mind.

For truth
is the way of
every human mind.

- selah -

We live
through the Life of a Being
that is eternal.

We love
through the Love of a Truth
that is absolute.

We think
through the Light of a Reality
that is infinite.

We are found
not because we seek to find what we seek
but because we have come seek of these things
in and of themselves - in God alone.

- selah -

Thus,
our beloved Starshine,

In spirit and for truth dost
each thy light ever proceed
from the seat of thy every soul
to alloweth thine own time to flow
through the abundance of every heart
into those many rivers and into their seas
that join into the one Ocean of the Infinite.

And in this -
Infinite Ocean
all in Humankind is  -
a species of living soul:
That make us all common
in each our being - just human.

For the human spirit is
everywhere the Beloved is
because everywhere the Beloved is,
there is Beauty - and verily,

Beauty is everywhere.
---<--@

Standing Still

Only in the silence shall you know the words.



Be!

Say nothing for once,
and embrace everything;
forget all thy words and love!

Accept!

Knowing thy unknowing -
to refresh... and to remember...
and to live...

Hope!

Hoping all hopes bravely,
making them one
in thy heart...

Build!

Cherishing not
just the dream itself,
laboring to always dwell
within the dreaming...

Forgive!

Remove
all thy barriers
to the making us one...

   ...a better peace awaits.

Save thyself.
---<--@

Salutation #119

In the Ages of Country,
that necessary and vital transition
from emerging to developing
(as well as from developed to mature)
- is a purely internal shift -
'tis a definitive change of spirit;
a repentance of the heart.

---<--@

(Growing Great)

IT IS EASY
to flaunt strength
when a nation is blessed
and outwardly strong
but this outward strength,
my brothers and sisters of the Promise,
however awesome it may seem,
must soon be surrendered
to an inward awareness
of what is truly forever abiding
in the life of our nations.

It must gain the profit of its grace.

Else it is all vanity.

- selah -

It is said,
precious Starshine -

"Half the victory is knowledge of self."

For one who desires
to obtain the victory (of God)
must first understand the self, 

master the self, overcome the self -
before one truly learns
- how it is -
to live and fight
and die for others.

The other half then,
is just enduring.

(This is true 

for individual human beings

and for individual human nations.)
---<--@


The Ages of Country

To the Class of 2012

Starshine, this is for you - if not today, tomorrow.

(You know, for days now, I've been going through what to say to each of you - Class of 2012 - in my native Philippines in particular and across to our kindred nations in general. 

As you know, the year 2012 is a momentous year - it is a year of crossroads and expectations.

I wanted to say something formal, something meaningful, something from me to you. But for days now, I've been struggling to put the words down for you.

So here's what I am going to do - I will speak extemporaneously. 

I will make this message a personal one.)

---<--@

First of all, congratulations! 

Whatever stage in your life you are now witnessing the beginning of, you totally deserve it!

So own up to it - embrace and accept this victory you have gained for yourself - appreciate the moment - humbly, deeply, with gratitude. 

Do not forget to review the virtues that brought you to this moment and make a memory of them as well, praise the LORD for His enabling grace that God may multiply your successes.

Plant your feet firmly upon the ground of the truth, as they are made plain, present and manifest to the eye of thy heart, and rise upon the wings of thy prayer towards God and the realization of all thy hopes. 

Dear Starsine, commencement exercises imply by their very essence - a beginning. It is a way for you to remember well a great milestone in your life. For life is lived in stages, each leading to the other. 

Thus, however long each of these phases, good or bad, seems to each of thee - every ending continues on to a new beginning. 

For it must. 

Therefore, forward looking is what you must always be. Remember, your youth is in thy spirit and learning is forever.

Looking back will serve only to embitter thee. 

Indeed, there were good times (as well as bad) and necessary farewells, but the past (as it was precisely experienced by thee) is not a place in which we can visit. 

Long for good times and reunions but align these longings with the flight of thy hopes; anchor them not onto the sinking of the void.

The past, once it is lived, is forever no more - everything is in the Now. It is here in the Now where constant remembrance dwells, to carry all true things forward and across into tomorrow.

In this way, all true things carry all true things into the reality of the present time. In this way, we carry each other by each good ideal we represent and by each good thing that we do.

You must always remember this - those places in thy past are places still and the people in thy past are people still regardless of the intervening years. Time is allied to the meek and the humble. 

Come alive to the reality of unseen things!

Bitterness is not for thee, precious Starshine, it is for those who refuse to learn and to move forward into forever. It is for those who stubbornly seek to strive alone and without counsel; entangled in the snares of their own making - theirs is a useless, seasonless, tasteless, flightless existence. 

You are to love them anyway, pray for them especially, and be a sibling to them still.

Be spiritual. Do not be divided in thy heart. Be whole. 

Exercise a prudent discernment and let go of the past times and past hurts without letting go of all thy past loves - for verily, love as it pertains to itself knows of neither limit nor time. 

Be brave enough to carry all that you love into thy present and therefore, into thy future and you shall make of yourself, by the grace of God, both wise and happy, in that order.

Yea, uncertainty.

I want you to savor it.

For this uncertainty exists for each of you.

There is an air of uncertainty - here - that surrounds and permeates each of you, Class of 2012, like an invisible embrace. It is the atmosphere of your expectations. Remember always, it is yours.

This uncertainty exists for each of you, because you - and only you - can muster the courage, virtue and determination to break through its infinite layers and discover your own powers of flight.

For whether you know it or not, this air of uncertainty is the air you breathe to give texture and shape, feeling and intesity to your own dreams and life to your greatest ambitions.  

This is the breathe that transforms - The breathing of the brave. 

It is the aspiration of hope that propels the cycles of faith and love to empower with reality those prayers that move the arm that moves the mountains.

Therefore, may your prayers bless your spirit with the strength to rise above the challanges of these times.

No one has the right to burden each of your life with expectations than your own indomitable spirit. So know yourselves. 

Present yourselves before God lovingly. Be true. Be happy. Be always in love. 

Be peacemakers.

---<--@

Dreamer of Dreams

Salutation #112

"If the veil of time were withdrawn

and the Kingdom of God stretched forth

- in plain view before thy sight -

if the LORD does not incline thy heart unto Him,

O Man, thou still would not be able to believe."

(The Story of Being Special)

The LORD God

created all living beings to be unique

- Angels and Men -

the LORD created them,

seen as well as unseen, We became.

And All of us are made to be special.

But the Devil and his angels, they said,

"since the LORD God willed

that all living beings are special - then -

I must be special".

And so was division in heaven sown.

For the Devil and his angels

- undid in themselves -

the life that the LORD God

- in each of us -

did bestow in abundance.

They cast themselves into the void.

But the Holy Angels of the LORD said,

"as the LORD God willed

that all living beings are special, then you,

O my beloved, must be special".

And so they were in God gathered.

For the spirit of the world is a scattering spirit.

But the Spirit of God gathers together.

- selah -

You make me special, beloved of God,

and so I am. And so you are, alleluia.

---<--@

Salutation #90

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

(Citizenship with Fidelity)

I believe in our people

- We, the Philippines -

every ethnic tribe

- that make us -

into one common community;

one lineage of hope,

7,107 islands strong!

And I recognize in myself

and in each of my compatriots,

the strength and the spirit

that bind us together

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

I shall be obedient

- to my parents -

and faithful

- to my God -

that I may learn to love virtue

and the good of others.

For I shall strive

to be useful to my nation

and shall work hard

to bring honor and joy

to my family,

to my school,

to my teachers

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

I shall always remember

the experiences of our history

that forged for our people,

one common destiny.

And I shall walk - forever -

in this remembrance,

deriving from

the sacred memory

of our heroes,

one common identity.
---<--@

I shall keep true

to my common identity -

it is the reality

upon which

is established

the sacred trust

that binds the lives,

the labors

and the fortunes

of all Filipinos

- together -

into one lineage of hope;

one common citizenry.

And I will honor this

- sacred trust -

and work to fulfill this hope

in myself as a citizen

of our Republic endeavor,

drawing from the same

unyielding strength

that have empowered

the labors

of every Filipino

of every generation.
---<--@

I will cherish and understand

our Republic endeavor -

it is the foundation

of our democratic processes

in the political,

social

and juridical institutions

and representative traditions

that maintain the good order

of our public peace

that shelter

and preserve

the life of our civil society.

And I shall maintain

a constant vigilance

over our democracy,

participating in the labors

that enrich and advance

the peace of our Republic,

seeking every means available,

to pursue the the common good

of our people

and realize

the eternal vision

of our nation

established in our Constitution.

---<--@

I shall be brave

in the defense

of our Republic peace

and preserve

with my honor

and my life,

the truth of our Constitution

and the life of our generations.

And so

I shall embrace - forever -

all of these duties that I owe

to that undying dream

of freedom for myself

and for all Filipinos

being willing to freely

and humanly carry them out,

with much faith in God

and steadfast trust

in our Country,

kindled forever

like a flame in my heart

and in the hearts

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

Salutation #75

A Nation at peace with its own truth is a Country at one with its own heart.

(The Pursuit of Happiness)

Happiness is not a freedom to do anything.

Happiness is the ability

to consistently do the right thing

in spite of everything.

Therefore,

a happy person is a person

in possession of his or her own freedom.

One who obtains happiness

by striving to live a life

that is truly free.

- selah (pause for thought) -

Now,

a lot of people look for peace

for all peoples have an idea of what happiness is

but only a few know where to begin.

No one can tell you what the truth for you is like

but you can listen to others

to find out where to begin looking

for thy own truth.

For your peace is your own.

But your peace is never meant

to only be yours.

For you are like a star - that -

once aflame must reach out to shine

for other stars across time and distance

- against the Night.

Truly,

the individual is important.

But this importance must exist

within a community that values it.

This is our liberty.

- selah -

Once you are in possession

of the truth in your own heart

- O Beloved of the LORD -

it may only be taken away

by your lack of vigilance.

For no one can dictate to you

what you must will to cherish forever

- in the city within thy own heart -

within those worlds within thyself.

Heaven and earth may only give thee

good counsel and due caution.

So be careful of the false images

that are specifically intended

for the ruin of your dreams

and the overthrow of thy own peace.

For once you are in possession

of thy peace in thy own heart,

it may only be uprooted

(and may God forbid it)

by your freely giving it away.

---<--@

Endless Blue Sky Sunshine

"Change your thoughts and you change your world."

- Norman Vincent Peale

Live your truth responsibly!

Speak it like you mean it.

Share it like you love it.

Keep it like you really care,

gripping it not with your hands,
but embracing it with your heart.

Nurture it as if it were yours
knowing always to be thankful
to the one God of Whose Reality
is the one Truelight you reflect;
the one LORD by Whose desire
you are called to become you.

So strive with courage and heart
despairing not, dear Starshine,
but being always of good cheer -
you are beautiful without effort!

So be like all hope is become;
walk like you're never forgot;
dance like you are truly alive;
sing like the world cares not;
smile like worries have an end;
laugh like each moment is free;
breathe like your prayer begun;
shine like you belonged forever!

By sweet surrender to the Light
be the gold of sunbeams sharp
against the darkness of the Night
flying upon the wings of eagles
into the blue of an endless sky.
---<--@

Ignite

Starshine,

your addiction is to life.

There is nothing worthy
about things that cause harm -
Destruction is only good
if it brings about growth and transformation.

So remember this
when you shall desire to find yourself
when you shall seek to one day be
as stars looking out from yourself
possessed by your own light,
being by the one Beautiful beheld
seeing far into the darkness
of our needful world:
Make no provision in your heart
for evil things: Here, Now.

For there will come a time in your life
when you shall be confused
when you shall cross an imperceptible threshold
into an in-between world -
By the ebb and flow tides of shadow and light,
you shall wander alone with the Alone
and you will be compelled to look for those things
that are meant to be yours
as well as forced to shed away all other things
that should no-wise belong to you.

So listen to good counsel, Beloved of God,
for it is better not to begin weeping
than to weep until the tears that was begun
are all shed away by our weeping together
for before you can shed your own starlight,
our most precious Starshine,
before the love in your heart ignites,
you must first shed away all your tears.
---<--@