Salutation #167

Benignity preserveth, Justice bringeth, Law leadeth, Life giveth.

(A Just Society)

Let us be a Republic
where people know of goodness
and recognize in themselves this goodness
and having no fear of the spirit of our Justice
   (who likewise love and recognize the same goodness
   idealized in our Vision of a peaceful national community
   and protected by the prevailing laws of our Country),
have every recourse to and confidence in the same
and by the same Justice fostered in their Liberty.

Let us be a labor of Country
where no man or woman who is good
fear neither the goodness of other citizens
nor the triumph of the spirit of evil in our midst.

Let us live in this society.

- selah -

Let us be a Just Society!
---<--@


The Nine Common Human Needs

Salutation #154

(Human Rights)

Human rights - are those - 
inalienable and universal legal protections 

granted all human individuals 

that are derived 

from the manifest necessities 

that arise from the fundamental nature

of all human beings.

They
envelop human dignity 

- and - 

embrace human promise 

- and - 

constantly seek
- to do so -

each in their entirety.

In principle, 

these protections are directed 

toward defending our basic vulnerabilities 

and promoting our fundamental responsibilities 

to each other as human beings cognizant of our humanity

and are laws purposed together
by all nations for the benefit of all nations
to recognize, foster, and preserve
human life, liberty, responsibility, posterity, and destiny 

each in their most evolved
and universal sense.
---<--@

Salutation #130

From the Book of Life proceeds -

   the Eternal Law!

Thus
is the way of all nations
established for all nations by God -

   for our law serves life, 
   and our life observes the Law.

'Tis but one great cycle
of exile and of exile returning -

   proceeding from peace, 
   and leading again into Peace!
---<--@



(The 2nd Cause: The Cause of Law - Unity)

The 2nd Cause
is concerned with Law
- and - the juridical processes
that guide, form, and strengthen
the evolving social consciousness
of the national community.

   (For human law
   as it is manifested - in time -
   is ever imperfect and as thus require
   - constantly - the guidance of the Eternal Law
   written in the hearts of all Mankind.)

- selah -

LAW is
what imparts necessary shape
and requisite strength to human reason
- and - human reason - as it directly relates -
with the LORD God - the one Author of Law -
and consequently, other human beings
(as well as other living beings,
seen and unseen).

Therefore,
Law must first be reasonable.

- selah -

Law must be made meaningful
to human reason - unaided by faith,
and so must draw its binding force (of truth)
out of a desire to advocate and advance
the authentic freedoms, intrinsic rights,
and the sheer quality of life
of those constituent communities
of whose citizens its necessary promulgation
is intended by the legislative branch
of the Responsible State.

- selah -

Law serves all of life.

But Law must - first and foremost -
be placed ever in the service of Sacred Life.

We
of the generations
of the children of Mankind
being both the guardians of the law [of the nations]
- as well as - its beneficiaries must dwell
in constant remembrance that:

   Life is a pre-existent good
   - life is before everything else was -
   the transcendental substance of its Truth
   is of the One Who is both limitless and eternal -
   and law inspired by the LORD
   is one written in defense of Sacred Life
   which is like clothing given for our nakedness,
   sewn as shelter for the needs of all living creation
   particularly human life.

   Therefore,
   law [human] is Law [Eternal] that serve all of life.

      (The intention
      of the law [of the nations]
      is to respond to human needs,
      and in particular, those human needs
      that are needful of its protection.

      Therefore,
      a law can not be written
      to create and/or to exploit human needs
      because this is the reverse of its original intention.

      The reverse [of law]
      can never ultimately hold true
      - against the flowing out of exile time -
      for it shall never hold fast in the one heart of Man
      being naught but a tyranny of words
      and of entire languages of words -
      offensive, empty, and barren.)

One
who beholds the law
and lives to abide with the Law
- in the heart -
must ever be aware
that those common human needs
are forever protected by the Eternal God -

That Law exists
in the service of Sacred Life!

- selah -

A law that serves
is one that is observed.

One must first observe the law
who desire to gain from its original intention.

In this way,
law is no respecter of persons
but is above all persons
(and personalities).

Therefore,
if any human community is to benefit
from the original intention of law,
then it must first be willing
to freely and completely apply itself
to its prescripts and ensure that the rule of law
both extends to all and applies to all
(which is effective promulgation and civic participation
founded on effective civic education respectively).

What precedes
this necessary civic observance
is an inherent public trust of whose original domain
is founded at the very foundation of law.

To be sure,
law was something inspired by God in Mankind
having variously revealed it to our humanity
- throughout Salvation History -
as a sign of our LORD's manifest will
to lead all hearts to the Truth.

It is an extension of His good will for all nations.

   (The highest [noblest] form of law being
   the Law of the Gospel or the Law of Christ-Love
   or the one Law [beyond which there is no more law].)

Since
the purpose of Justice - is -
the restoration of the Original Ideal,
Justice by its own virtue
seeks to preserve and to promote
what goodness there is.

We are then left with the reality of evil.

Now,
the intention of law is to bind evil
(and defeat the Evil in all evil things) -
to deter, deflect, deny, and expose it.

Therefore,
the purpose of law is - also -
to preserve and to promote the good
but this law wills to achieve
by the discouragement of evil acts.

Law is what deters evil
from afflicting all who
are covered by law.
---<--@

The Circular Relationship of the Causes

Salutation #121

The Lord Christ said,

"The poor you will always have with you..." (Matthew 26: 11)

Starshine, there will always be a minority.
---<--@

(The 4th Cause: The Cause of Minorities - Benignity)

BENIGNITY is the practice of goodness.

Now,

goodness

in the company 

of the great, the strong, 

and the powerful, 

is not an extraordinary virtue.

Therefore, 

this Cause must concern itself 

with (1) the preferential treatment and care 

of minorities (i.e. the weak and the vulnerable)

and (2) the just distribution 

of the material goods of this world.

In the person of the stranger, 

the orphan, the widow, the unborn, 

the disabled, the elderly, and the poor 

whether transient, semi-permanent, or permanent, 

there shall always exist within our midst, 

a minority.

Indeed,

at one time or another 

in the lifespan of individual human beings 

as well as in the lifespan of individual human nations, 

we all become part of this minority.

Let us always bear this in mind and heart...

- selah - listen, think.

Have we forgotten our own roots, 

O numberless stars of our Father Abraham,

O ye children of the Peace, of the Light,
promised by the God of old 

to bless the national communities 

of our needful Mankind?

Were we not all 

drawn up by the LORD

from the poverty of the minority?

Were we not all 

uplifted from our lowliness

by the mercy and beneficence of God

to people the nations of the earth?

Let us always bear this 

- in mind and heart -

especially in these present times.

For this is how 

we shall fill the earth 

with living lights.

- selah -

We are by our poverty indistinguishable! 

How we shall each 

- distinguish ourselves -

in the midst of the darkness

is through virtue and the continual refinement 

of each our inherent human nobility.

This is important to remember, 

my brothers and sisters of the Promise, 

because the victimization (by the strong) 

of the marginalized (or the weak) 

will ultimately result in the implosion 

of our national communities 

and in the Last Day, 

it shall also bring about 

its final and irreversible destruction.

The marginalization 

- in any society - 

of any of one of its parts 

is always the effect of divisions 

(overt as well as covert) 

in the one heart of the people.

A social order built on disagreements 

(abiding in prejudices, misconceptions, fear and ignorance) 

is ever like a tyranny without a tyrant -

a culture of national self-destruction!

In this hostile atmosphere, 

the spirit of the nation itself

feels ever trodden underfoot 

until the burden of Justice 

becomes unbearable.

Indeed,

the will or the spirit of War 

always takes the easiest entrance 

into the midst of the people... 

And this it always does 

by subverting the 4th Cause.

- selah -

The one sin 

a nation can not abide by 

is the presence of War in the heart.

Indeed, 

we all shall stand before God 

to account for our gifts of nationhood! 

So let us not forget
to ask ourselves before God in prayer - each day -

what we have done or chosen not to do

to improve the life of our communities

and prosper the native peace 

of each our undertakings of Country.

Because Peace is our only path - 

it is the only choice we can really make

both as human beings and as human nations.

- selah -

The 4th Cause explicitly espouses 

the first principle - that -

the strong exists in defense of the weak.

The entire hierarchy of the Angelic realms 

is ordered by God around this first principle.

And since our nations (as they are) 

are a natural extension of the unseen realms, 

we too are expected by the Providence of God 

to faithfully imitate the heavenly order 

by formally uniting ourselves as a people 

to the will and the governance of the LORD, 

our God - the one Sovereign of all nations.

What the majority does in behalf of the minority 

dictates a nation's fidelity to the 4th Cause!

Wealth generation and long-term national prosperity 

is entirely dependent on the 4th Cause!

It is from the 4th Cause that we enter 

into an understanding of the higher Causes!

---<--@

The Circular Relationship of the Four Causes

Salutation #113

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

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



(The Tree of the Desolation of War)

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

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

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

It was the largest tree of all.

It was also the most ancient of all.

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

It blocked out much of the sky.

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

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

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

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

To each custodian in the orchard, 

the owner assigned a specific yield. 

And for this yield he gave a specified time.

He then left to find more workers.

- selah -

The trees are our nations. 

The great tree at the center of the orchard 

is the desolation of war. 

The custodians are the angels of the nations 

who are the keepers of our sacred remembrances. 

The owner is the LORD, 

the one Sovereign of all nations. 

And we are the workers.

But the custodian of the desolation of war 

is the great serpent of faded Eden. 

And he bids us 

- constantly - 

not to tend to our trees. 

At the very door of our hearts, 

the enemy of all human nations 

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

Time came 

and a great darkness fell upon our nations: 

The great cycle of the one celestial season is turning: 

Winter now approaches our time on earth.

Let us then work 

to complete our own remembrances 

with autumn leaves shed 

not so much for winter's sake 

but for the spring.

Let us turn away from the darkness.

Let us tend to each our own trees. 

And bear the good fruit of repentance.

Let us fight for the Causes 

- that have forever established us -

a free and human nation: 

Sacred Life, Law, Justice, and Benignity.

Let us compete in virtue 

- as citizens to each other - 

and produce for God and for each other 

a yield of good works, ten-fold, 

a hundred-fold, even a thousand-fold!

Starve out the serpent, O my nation! 

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

Born to the Morning: 

This is our land and Now is our time.

Because now is the time for peace.

This is our time.

---<--@

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

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

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

It is human to fight for love. It is not human to fight for hate.

For when we fight for love, we defend. When we fight for hate, we only fight.
---<--@


Lightning Preceding Thunder

Salutation #111

(The concise meaning of -)

"SACRED LIFE is all of life, plant and animal, above all human life."



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

The Cause of Sacred Life is the Cause of God.

This is the 1st of the Four Faithful Causes;
the Cause for which all the other Causes exist:

Sacred Life is the 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 Circular Relationship of the Four Causes

Salutation #51

Service is a calling, happiness an ambition. Of both the call of service and the ambition of happiness, it can be said, none of these may be born purely of human beginnings but are born of truths arisen and perfected from and through the great and unfathomable Mind of God.

For the service which is ours is a calling of God and not merely a human ambition. And the happiness which is also ours is a Divine ambition and not merely a human calling.

(Servant Leadership)

Take heart, O friends of the LORD!

Trust in God, all you citizen-servants of the nations!

Come alive to courage, defenders of the people!

For God does not choose anything without merit,

there is always wisdom in His choices.

Peace, I salute you!

Good human leaders know to follow,

know how to fall and follow again,

persisting in their hearts to hold on to what is dear to them,

never losing hope while giving hope to others,

never losing faith while others lose theirs,

never losing love while love seemed to have lost them,

never losing God because God never has lost them.

So for our leaders,
God intends something
but some of them follow something else,
knowing not hope, clinging to it like it were his or her own,
knowing not faith, expecting to see their own image
on the person of others,
knowing not love, expecting not the death that is to come,
knowing not God, thinking to be above men.

If we cling to Him, if we persist,

no matter the depth of the darkness,

nor the measure of our unlove,

He will bring into bloom

the full reality of our human natures

and bring our being into perfection,

- for ourselves and for others like ourselves -

here and into the next life, life and abundance.

Being chosen, one should accept and rejoice,

being accountable, one should rejoice and accept,

for in so doing the LORD holds you back from sin

and prepares your heart

to serve your fellow human beings.

- selah -

Man's life is wrought in penance and divine satisfaction,

reparation for evil and a constant pleading to God.

If we are called to serve, judge not,

but serve and serve all souls without distinction,

loving humanity in it's entirety

for love of God

and the salvation of our own souls.

Our human obligation lie not in judgment

but in reparation for evil and through reparation,

the alleviation of human suffering.

Therefore,

we are required to include

all of human suffering

and to discern not which one is punishment from God

and which other one is a person's own misfortune

or another one his or her sin

because none of us know what is absolute in the Truth.

This is the kind of service required of our leadership - who -

being called to serve must understand

that they are called not because they are good,

for Who alone is good but God,

they are called because they are accountable

not to themselves, for they did not choose themselves,

but to He Who by His authority wills into reality

all that He wills and sustains them,

directing them to purposes outside the scope of human thinking.

But to remain unchanged and unbowed,

with the will of war at the heart of every Country!

- selah -

War lusts after the life of all our nations.

Like a man perish from sin, so have civilizations entire

perished because sin was in the heart of Country.

To recklessly allow the vessel of Country to break

is like the murder of a woman pregnant

with a multitude of unborn lives in her bosom

- a crushing and unbearable burden

of unspent promises recorded against thee -

all of whom shall be accounted for at the Last Day,

to the very last hairs on their head.

For it is written in Scripture

and in the heart of Mankind - both -

that all of a Country's debt of Sacred Life

- across time and dimensional space -

will be accounted for by the Justice of God

before the one Creditor of All life.

For all living things have a purpose in God.

Indeed, each individual human being will be accounted for,

even down to the numbers of the hairs on their heads!

So be aware of the darkness that persists in the Night

and allow the spirit of War no foothold in thy selves -

To speak the truth and not to lie

for these are the mother tongues of heaven and hell.

To be honest, sincere, and willing to serve

with a heart of love and a will of understanding.

To love with one heart and to refer all things to God

- Who will refer them back to you -

and from you to the people and back again

as a continuous flowing in time - a mighty river -

enduring from generation after generation.

Be mindful of thy guardianship of the people.

Defend; neither falling short

nor exceeding the will of the defense.

For to fall short of the will of the defense is to find defeat.

And to exceed it is to become the enemy we claim to fight.

Ensure a just equality before the law;

that thy laws may serve the life of thy citizenry,

enlighten thy society, deter and defeat evil without harm to the good

so that every human being is given the most possible potential

out of his or her social identity

to aspire without fear

and to triumph without feeling defeated.

Lead unto unity and forget not the justice of thy peace

for where the heart that lives in the heart of thy nations

- is one and constant and alive -

where the people rejoice, all are inclined to rejoice,

where the people laugh, they laugh together,

where they play, they play together,

where they work, they work together,

where they grieve, they grieve together.

Therefore,

love the LORD and love the common people

serving thy undertaking of Country with one love alone.

For a heart that has many loves

each with different shades and degrees of scope and intensity

for each their different uses and objects and persons

does not know love,

and one who does not know love

has no knowledge of God nor claim to the unity of God.

For how can God abide in a heart that is unto it's own self divided;

how can the Sanctuary of the LORD abide in a sanctuary of war;

in a heart that is like a house always in danger of collapse,

wicked, adulterous, restless and never at peace?

How can the public trust be maintained

by those who picks and chooses who to love and who not to love?

How can the citizenry form a unified cohesion of hope and will of Country

around a heart that possesses none of these things?

How can the peace of any nation

respond to those whose hearts are contained by the will of war?

- selah -

Indeed,

the charity that must be thine by election

must burn with one love alone;

a love that obtains to God

and not a love that obtains to men -

or it is but an illusion of love.

Hence, in the end it matters not to thee - who to love -

because despite everything and in spite of thy self

- it is God and always God -

that you love no matter who you help or where you go.

For thy vision depends not on conditions external

but on things that are happening in your heart of hearts.

In this way, unity of the citizenry and social cohesion is fulfilled

at the level where true unity and cohesion is

- in the LORD and for the LORD -

at the very heart of a person

most especially thine.

For thy values are the values of peace.

---<--@

Miss Universe 2011 -

"Beauty is a state. You were born in it. For you are thus, and so with all beautiful things must strive to return to our LORD with it, being as you are - in the way that you are constantly remembered by our God in eternity."

Last year, it was a tricky question. This year, it was a politically sensitive one. However, I think Shamcey's answer was brilliant, don't you?

Congratulations, Shamcey! Please continue to inspire our youth.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas ! God bless us all.

Sheltering Wings

The Circular Relationship of the Four Causes

The Peace of the Brotherhood of Mankind

20110613

The Spratly Dispute

Our one Filipino nation has intimate cultural ties with the one Chinese nation. These historical ties are built upon the strength of common blood ties as well as by the pull of national necessities that flow naturally from the geography of our growing region.

Because of this, it is very difficult (but not impossible) for me to visualize our one Republic in open armed conflict with the People's Republic of China (PRC). And I am reasonably sure that the PRC feels the same way.

Armed conflict between any nation is truly an option of last resort and one not to be entered into lightly.

Therefore, what we must guard against is the unnecessary escalation of tension.

It is vital that reporting (from all sources) on the Spratly dispute respects and represents this fact of our national life - peace is our prerogative. No one in his or her right mind would want our whole region to descend into open war.

This is our first and foremost consideration - War serves no nation.

We are duty-bound both by honor and charity, to repel all threats that impugn the sovereignty of our one Republic however - and this consideration above all is what must drive our will to see to it that this issue is resolved - properly and using all available means.

Indeed, every citizen of every nation is bound to the common defense of their Country from every and all elements that threaten their peace and good will both internal as well as external.

Defense is a reaction. So what are we reacting to in the case of the Spratly issue?

There really is only one worthwhile cause for a shooting war - a clear, imminent and direct threat to the life of our nation i.e. our population and its posterity. This cause above all other causes absolutely compel the conduct of the defense. For it is the very cause of our existence as a nation.

Everything else must lie squarely within the realm of statecraft and diplomacy - until it fails and we have to go to war. God-forbid this should happen but it has happened before in the history of our nations - and many, many times.

Personally speaking, I am not convinced that we are presently reacting to a clear, imminent and direct threat to the life of our nation.

But if we remain confused or undecided about how we might as a Republic react to this threat, it might come to pass that we shall find ourselves treading a path we did not set out to take. Fear is only good if it keeps us alert to the truth.

What is in our hearts, my honorable compatriots, matter. We can not react passionately about this issue. Nor can we allow vague sentimentalism to rule our love of Country.

The Republic we serve is real, the people it shelters is all too real. As regards to the Spratly issue, there exists also a real threat - but the conclusion most favorable to our nation (and therefore, to all nations in the long-term) depends on how well we are able to penetrate today the confusion that must surround it.

Defense is a reaction. How well we handle ourselves matter above all because how well we handle ourselves (especially in the midst of adversity) is a reflection of how well we know ourselves both as a nation and as a Republic whole. And according to how much we know ourselves, we are able to glimpse also into the humanity of other nations as well.

Here is my analysis on the matter:

There are in reality two States that serve the one Chinese nation. For our intents and purposes, we shall refer to them as the elder and the younger States i.e. the mainland and the island ones.

The elder State is authoritarian in form. Her language therefore, will reflect this form. She is a Republic and therefore, very protective of her own. But so are we.

Though she does not always represent the actual desire of her nation - fact is, the elder State is still representative of the authority to represent that desire. If we know ourselves, we know to understand what this desire is.

But since we are a fully functional emerging democracy - the way by which we intend to achieve the end for which this desire exists in our people is very distinct though not different from her.

Where this desire intersects is where the common ground for the Spratly dispute may be found not in its distinctions.

Since this is a dispute, we can not meet her at her language. We have to stay with our own. We must reiterate the facts without inflaming the passions that underlie the tension. We must agree to use a common terminology that is neutral.

We have to consolidate our own collective will to preserve our peace and use this opportunity to press forward with our own internal national reconciliation processes strategically synchronizing these with our national development agendas (their tactical requirements as it were, including the modernization of our AFP, PNP, BFP, BJMP, etc.) without which our Republic can not obtain to its fullest potential.

ASEAN has a large part to play in this, of course. I am mystified as to why the knee-jerk reaction is to fly to the US and not to our partners in the region first. Our region is important enough to consider and one that is collectively possessed of interests of its own - more importantly, these interests are shared interests and they must be represented by our ASEAN.

The US is an ally (and a valuable one too) but she is not the only one. We have to learn to place a real value on our friendships with other nations as a matter of completing our remembrances.

The US is in principle an ally of the defense - and so are all the other nations (each to its own degree) of our one family of nations in the United Nations, China included. Our own worst enemy here at the moment is the perceptions we create in ourselves and therefore in other nations.

We must be clear and we must be resolute, above all we must base our thinking about the matter on relevant facts and our understanding of its favorable resolution on the force of law.

We must take to the side of the defense and undertake to properly understand it and the peace that it serves.

War serves no nation. I am not saying that fighting for the defense of our nation is not good, I am meaning precisely that. Fighting for the defense is good and when it is, it ultimately leads its nation to victory.

What we presently need here is an order of business not an order of battle.

The contested areas are not viable population centers in the near to mid-term therefore, the core of the dispute is really and specifically economic in nature.

There is a great possibility that the area is rich in petrochemical resources. I am of the conviction that diplomatic tact and business acumen not military force will best serve the national interests of all parties concerned as well as preserve the stability of the greater region.

We must specifically and strictly confine the Spratley dispute into the realm of strategic, regional economics. We may ask ourselves, "what regional economic goals may it serve?"

And this strategy must be geared towards the eventual de-militarization of the region.

Owing to the times, the actual causus belli of the Spratly issue - i.e. the resources - is limited by time itself so that the further we remain indecisive on the matter, the less and less probable that any nation will succeed in harnessing and therefore, profiting from the true potential of the area.

Research is parallel to available information and in the age of information, sans the paradigm of War, research will only go exponentially fast. And all research is driven by necessity.

My thinking here is that if we sit on this issue long enough without actually going to war, it will probably go away (at least in terms of significance).

And it is most likely that this is the outcome, disadvantageous though it may be (in terms of economic gain for the entire region), that is most advantageous to all parties concerned, if the region remains indecisive.

If we remain divided on the issue - the best outcome is to prevent an open, armed conflict. If we are to find some common ground on the issue - the best outcome is an economic one. Therefore, the less politics involved the better it shall be.

---<--@

The Culture of Death

A famous saying goes, "home is where the heart is." This is true because a house is not always a home.

Now, the culture of death is like a house built on four foundations.

1. Heretical Materialism - the social doctrine that both the goal and the substance of life is purely material because the physical universe is really all there is.
2. Atheistic Secularism - the religion that imposes the belief that there is no God because Man is independent and self-sufficient by himself alone.
3. Moral Relativism - the lie that believes that justice is arbitrary because there are no moral absolutes as both good and evil come in convenient shades of gray.
4. Social Darwinism - the lie that believes that brute force is the singular social requirement, in the absence of virtue and truth, that measure the excellence of nations or individuals.

A culture of death is a culture of contempt for Sacred Life. This is the house that breeds the darkness that sustains the Beast of War.

It is a house that must rely on division being held up purely by its opposition to the truth. It is therefore, a house built invariably on persecution of whatever form and spirit.

It harbors a great disregard for our common humanity.

It must necessarily hold the universal spirit of Mankind in utter contempt, disrespecting the virtues embodied in its heroes - all our patriarchs, prophets, judges, kings, queens, apostles, bishops, martyrs, virgins, doctors, saints, holy personages, leaders and teachers - from all times and from all peoples, known and known to God alone, all those who are particularly beloved of every honorable religion, and therefore, to one Creator of all Sacred Life in all His revealed mystery.

It abhors wisdom in all its forms and seeks to scandalize the common people and undo the peace of the nations.

This is not our house.

Another thing about the culture of death, this house is parasitic. We only have to return to our original foundations and work to reverse its lies in ourselves to find our home (away from Home) once again.

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Sheltering Wings

The difference between a monarch and a president is one of election. The similarity is that both of them still have to make the surrender of kings - an acceptance of a life of service to the nation as a rule above all rules.

Now, the peace of the Responsible State are like sheltering wings - everybody is engaged from the center in a lateral hierarchy that embraces the nation.

This is a liberating embrace - one that both preserves the dignity of the individual citizen as well as unleashes their promise in the service of the national good - everybody ascends with but one ascending to the vision of Country being in itself true to the first principles of nationhood.

The opposite is the grip of a tyrant. And we all know this from common experience.

This is the shelter we are presently trying to obtain for our nation - not for winter's sake but for the spring. This is the cause of our allied generations begun in 2009 (prior to 2009 there was no choice and after 2012, this choice will be no more).

---<--@

Salutation #13

(Completing our EDSA)

To all our national communities, Peace -

A significant part of the peace of the times, my people,

as it concerns our nation, the Philippines,

involves bridging the gap between generations

and between administrations.

There are specific moments in our history

that we need to re-examine in light of these times.

And we shall do this not to scatter

either our belongings to each other

or our remembrances together

but to more fully gather them together

in and amidst ourselves.

For if we know ourselves as ourselves,

we can no longer be a nation

swayed hither tither by a dark night.

If we find confusion in our hearts about the past -

especially from 1986,

now is the time to re-examine these pivotal events.

And we shall do this with a view to establish the facts

upon more familiar grounds of fundamental truths

we have now re-discovered about ourselves as a nation

as well as about our nation in the context of its God-given right

to prosper and advance

under the peace of a Republic undertaking of Country.

Look upon these present times yourselves, my honorable compatriots,

and see the coincidences for what they are - signal graces.

My intention here is to guide you -

but you have to let yourself be led.

And not by me.

- selah -

All our Presidents have had something to give to our Country.

It is up to us to discern what good there is

that we have inherited from past Presidencies.

For if we remember only the problems,

we shall fail to build on the strength

of previous administrations.

It is only natural for every generation

to inherit a degree of evil

(to test their strength and commitment to the truth)

but sufficient for this evil - always -

is the good of the prevailing day.

We have come to remember

the faults of our Presidents

and may God allow it to serve our vigilance well.

But to the point that we tend to almost always forget their virtues,

we are consigning ourselves to a labor of unending beginnings.

For it is these virtues that connect our lineages together

and it is by the strength of these connections that we prosper.

If we are wise, my people,

and if the LORD, our God, blesses us,

even what darkness there is may lead us to the light.

Only those who are without remembrance remain in the dark.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Sheltering Wings

The Circular Relationship of the Four Causes

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.

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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!