Salutation #200

The spirituality of peace is connection.
It is a common human striving. Known to all peoples.
It seeks wholeness in the self and unity with the community.

(The Eternal Salutation)

Peace is the eternal salutation.
Before all things were, peace was with God.

Peace preceded heaven and earth from the beginning.

Peace is foundation, deeper than one might think... 

Peace is a blessing, it is the primordial grace of creation.

Peace is sown in community and reaped in good will.

It is what gathers the wandering tribes of the earth.

It is what sends them forth as a human people.

Peace grounds the mystical reality of human community.

A nation grows its roots deep into its living memory.

And withstands the scattering winds of the restless enemy.

---<--@

Australia is a laid back Country

Australia is a laid back Country, it is oft said... but what does this mean?



Every undertaking of Country
counts it's days according to it's own rhythm,
giving them form and measure according to its own spirit...
and those who belong to her nationhood
come to feel this passage in their moments intimately,
more and more so by the count of their years.

I would not compare Australia to other Countries...
I have learned to love her as she is... our Australia Fair
(And to judge none - for no nation of ours is without sin
and as such, no undertaking of Country is without salvation)
And though I know a bit of her, having spent some of my time

embraced by her - and in her spirit, soaking in the life, 

diversity and remembrance of her varied peoples, 

I can not truthfully say I have become blessed enough 

to fully appreciate the depth of her spirit as a nation... 

for Australia is not only fair, she too is ancient -

the roots of her community, quite vast and quite deep.

BUT this is do know -
and all my family and friends over there may agree:
Australia is a laid back nation, fair dinkum!

And when I say this,
I mean she is a land built with human communities
devoted to much happier, and much deeper human pursuits...
a nation inherently aware of a calling deep within herself,
reaching out together towards horizons a little bit above
that of the mere material... and the obviously temporal
for hers is that spirit that values things that are brighter
and more excellent than just the coin... and the clock
(to the point that civic generosity is sometimes exploited).

So there seems to ALWAYS be time in Australia
(at first, this was admittedly a source of boredom for me)
most especially, moments set aside and devoted
to the quest of other necessary things besides money...
(her shops close uncomfortably early, specially on weekends).

And this, according to yours truly, is why she is perceived
by her other kindred nations to be easy and laid back in her nature -
because it is part and parcel of her inherent wealth and wisdom
and so Australia keeps her time and treasures accordingly -
time for family, time for friends, time for mateships enough to mature
time for nature, time for fun and sports, time for learning a craft or a cure,
time for worship, time for politics, time for sacred remembrances to endure
time in abundance, time welling up from the dreamtime - plenitude!
Time enough for the benefit and enrichment of all Australians.
---<--@


Fairness and Mateship

Salutation #147

Because time is a flow
and once it has gone out of the timeless

within our hearts, 

once time has flowed out of the Sanctuary of the LORD 

in our every hearts, 

it is no longer time but consequence 

and is near impossible to change. 

(You may refer to the River in Ezekiel 47: 1-12.)

(Nation, Mission, Commission)

My people,
our spirit is strong and virile -
at par with each our kindred nations!

Believe this today with me
and we will build everything else
around this belief -

In you and in me,
there dwells our Country;
'tis a will of peace and of good will
as well as the unity to build up together
from star to star, our one whole sky.

It is the love
that binds us together
in the freedom of human citizenship
and the belonging that holds us together true
in the completeness of our Republic one.

It is that intimated promise
we must hold in our heart of hearts;
the unspoken truth upon which is established
the lineages that leads us back from exile
unto our own Eden rebuilt!

Believe this today with me
and we will build everything else
around this belief -

For in this spirit is realized
the sheltering wings of our nationhood;

the strength to shall carry our generations forth
and the safety to see our vision through to the LORD
across the desolation of war and the darkness of exile time.

Believe this today with me
and we will build everything else
around this belief -

THAT
we are a nation,
one and distinct -

a nation
ordered and purposed
to shelter our common humanity
and to build up the inhabited earth -

a nation
commissioned by the LORD, 
to preserve the dignity and the promise

of all our generations in every generation -

a nation
faithful to our own remembrance
being endowed with justice and freedom
sufficient for the good of every present generation -

a nation
true to our own vision and lineage
and allied to the peace of all the nations
of the earth under heaven -

a nation
united and able through our unity
to overcome the evil of every present time -

THIS 
is in each our spirit first
before anything else
or not at all.
---<--@

spirit is energy

Salutation #72

If only we knew, O my people -

if only we knew how complete we are;

how illustrious and noble the spirit of our nationhood,

how dignified the purpose of our coming together,

how blessed the nature of our one Republic undertaking -

if only the truth about us were not veiled by the darkness

we would all be one heart and one mind.

- selah -

(Freedom is to Know)

God bless the Philippines!

The great challenge we face in our time

is not the waging of another world war.

The great challenge we face in our time

is the winning of a lasting peace for our world.

Peace is the challenge we face

- my brothers and sisters of the Promise -

and it shall demand from each of us

a deeper and more profound sense

of moral courage and determination

- at par with the timeless virtues -

of all those victorious generations

of times and places past.

This is our time.

Lest we forget. Lest we forget.

Therefore,

a nation at peace with its own truth

- arrayed across our generations -

into a single endeavor of Country at one with its own heart

shall be our greatest and surest guarantee

of safe passage into the new age

beckoning before us.

A nation's motion is the motion of Country

and the soul of Country is in the life of its nation -

- each can not be without the other -

and both must be decided upon

- by each of us -

today while it is still today.

Freedom is to know.

---<--@

Remember - 

War is not the test,
O nations of the children of Mankind...
War is the tutor.

Allowed only for a time.

Peace is the test.
And to pass this test
brings success.

20110928

At the Waning of the Storm

Today, as Typhoon Pedring recedes and the blessings of calm is restored to our Country, let us also remember - that - this day, September 28, 2011, is the Feast Day of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila.

O Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila,
please pray for us, your own people,
and maintain a loving vigil over us
as we struggle today to love God
and to love one another in God
by being true to our better selves
as one people and one nation
one faithful Republic -
beyond time and human limitations,
united across all our generations,
by our common endeavor of Country.

O Saint Lorenzo, holy martyr of God.
Valiant witness of Jesus Christ
and first Saint of our people!
Your glorious and shining martyrdom
along with your faithful Companions
upon that terrible hill in Nagazaki, Japan
has shown to the whole of God’s creation;
unto both angels and men alike,
unto all of blessed Christendom,
unto your own Filipino nation,
and unto all the nations of the earth
that the demands of our holy faith
can be met - even unto the shedding of blood
and that each of us common, nameless Filipinos
may truly aspire to brave the hard and narrow Way
and walk the mountain path of Christian perfection.

O Saint Lorenzo, beloved of our people.
Strong in your faith in God and in your people
steadfast in hope, now confirmed in charity!
Intercede for us at the foot of the Master!
May the Lord magnify in each our souls
the love of God and of others in God
that awaken in our hearts a lively faith
that renew in all our communities
the true spirit of selfless service
founded in love, immortal and divine,
which is the true soul of Country.

O Saint Lorenzo, our honored countryman.
Strong in your faith in God and in your people
Steadfast in hope, now confirmed in charity!
Intercede for us at the foot of the Master!
Help us to trust in God and to cling to Him
believing in the unfailing help of God's grace.
May the Lord dispel our darkness with His Light
and enliven in all our families
a holy thirst and a profound desire
for the ever living waters of the Gospel of Christ
that awaken each heart to the call of salvation.

O Saint Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila,
please pray for us, your own nation,
as we struggle today to love God
and to love one another in God
by being true to our better selves
as one people and one nation
one faithful Republic -
under the eternal vigilance of Almighty God
in the one, blessed NAME
of the Thrice-Holy God:
the Father,
the Son,
And the Holy Spirit.

AMEN.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Saints and Addicts

O my Jesus, I love You

20110910

Land of Promise

Glorious Motherland,

Pearl of the Orient Seas,

the fire of our love for thee

pines for thy proud embracing.

Land of Promise,

Cradle of the Brave,

from the tyranny of oppression

thou shalt never yield.

Across thy shining seas

and verdant mountain peaks,

fair winds and thy native blue skies,

the splendor of this hymn and song

speaks of thy vaunted liberty!

The brightness of thy Banner

undiminished in triumph waves,

the glory of thy stars and sun

are lights that shall ne'er fade.

Land of the Morning,

worthy of honor and of love -

our home away from Home -

what happiness it is

should the enemy draw near

to die for thy liberty.

---<--@

Salutation #48

A FILIPINO is a Filipino is a Filipino. This is our national minimum.

(Soul of Country)

O my nation, who are you?

Why do we long to wear the image of other nations like a mask?

Why do we take comfort in being somebody we are not?

What have become of us, my people?

Why do we seek to imitate the way of other peoples?

Do we not have our own remembrance to honor and way to cherish?

Can we not see our own reflection in the timeless places and faces

contained in the spirit of our Country?

O where is the soul of my Filipino people?

Why should we love and honor those - wicked things -

that disrupt the peace and harm our common good?

Are we not a free Republic?

Do we not share common commitments

to look after each other's individual good

- in a true spirit of service -

laboring in hope and goodwill

- together as one -

to fulfill the promise of the present and of every present,

and be at peace with the living memory of our past

honoring our duty to all generations yet to come?

Do we not have recourse to the - strength and potential -

of our freedoms together?

Have we not learned from the pain of our martyred past

the high cost of these freedoms;

this present promise of liberty and self-determination?

Have we forgotten the native heart that - singularly beats -

for this, our beloved Motherland?

Have we forgotten the spirit of the nation

that provides for us a certain place between this one earth and sky?

How much more suffering,

how much more tears and sacred blood must be consumed

in the name of this present moment

before the dawn of the morning is come into our hearts

and the will of the one Filipino Republic

is made to shine like a bright sunrise in our souls?

We are a patient people.

But too long have we waited, too much have we suffered

- to high a price have our generations paid -

to let anything hold us back

from the promise of tomorrow that awaits us:

The vision of a united, free, peaceful and prosperous

- one and faithful Filipino Republic -

with liberty, equality, justice and opportunity

for all our citizens and our posterity

without distinction or prejudice

as to race, creed, sex, age, ethnicity or social class!

O when will I sing the victory songs of our Motherland?

When shall the troubles of my nation cease,

O LORD, and one Sovereign of All?

When shall the past end and tomorrow begin for my people?

When shall we be made again into one heart?

O my beloved people,

brothers and sisters of the Promise,

the captive soul of the Filipino nation must be set free!

We are the masters of our national destiny.

But until we realize - here and now -

who we are as a nation distinct but not apart

from all the other kindred nations

of the one Peace of the one Brotherhood of Mankind;

until we awaken again into ourselves

- and enter into the heart of this one nation -

as a people worthy of this free Republic, its mission and its sacred trust,

the dawn of our morning will seem so far away.

We, as one people, must awaken to the soul of Country.

It only takes an instant to realize - who we truly are -

together in each ourselves, citizens to each other,

and a lifetime to become for our Country - what we truly must -

faithful sons and daughters of a common Motherland;

the timeless, living community that has loved,

sheltered and sustained our generations

under the eternal vigilance of Almighty God

from the very beginning of the generations

of our one people.

---<--@

If you still want to know the name of the Angel of the Philippines, it is this - "Go and be a good citizen".

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Citizenship with Fidelity

The Peace of the Brotherhood of Mankind

Maiden of the Sea

How fare thee, dear nation,

my Pearl of the Orient Seas

standing at the threshold

of another thousand years?

O dear island nation,

how came we to know thee?

O Sanctuary of my people,

a love 7,107 islands strong

emerging now from thy sleep,

awaiting the dawn!

Thy past is a mystery,

a deep longing for answers,

who were thee, O nation?

What was our name

from before the Crown

and the sword of Spain?

O dear Country,

our home away from Home

beautiful for thy people

and for thy bay side sunsets

blessed with great riches

and fruits of earth and sea.

O Land of the Morning,

my hope and my patrimony.

O how I love thy sweetness,

all our dreaming together

those days of my childhood,

'twas long as forever

fond for friends and family,

for love of God and Country

I shall soon remember -

O strong Republic,

be faithful for people

prosper thy peace together

strong for for thy faithfulness

and faithful for thy togetherness

now hearken to thy courage,

and aright to thy self!

Arise brave Republic,

become present for our hope!

For God has kept thy secrets,

thy lost memory of times before:

Thou loved the maiden

embraced by the sea!

So young and vibrant,

and promised to thee.

Thy nation to wed thee,

O for beautiful Country!

The people adored thee,

for thy spirit was free;

all the other nations

were so happy for thee.

Have thou now forgotten

that promise long ago?

Return now to the wonder

and never let go.

The night's almost over,

daybreak twilight draws near.

Aright my dear people,

the dawn will soon break.

Our Republic awaits us,

O nation most dear -

Our Land of the Morning

is soon to appear!

O dear Filipino nation,

we are who we are!

Long have the years

kept dear Country away -

through trial and sorrow,

through fear and strife,

through furious battle,

through bloodshed tears,

how long the struggle,

we fought to remain

through every opponent,

our hope overcame!

Night has not claimed us,

we are the same.

---<--@