No Comment

To exceed the defense is to become the enemy we claim to fight.

I really have no commentary on the present goings-on in our Country (at least as far as those issues hugging the headlines at the moment).

Sometimes, you have to draw back from these things to see them from perspectives far from the maddening crowd. It all seems so confusing right now.

One thing is for sure though: If it were that the Executive and the Judiciary is indeed carrying out the beginnings of a constitutional crisis - let us be wary.

Let us be wary for our own good sake's.

Let us not be bitter. Let us not be hasty. But let us be prudent.

Let us be solicitous for the people caught in between - both rich and poor alike - let us care about the way they are treated and let it be a reflection of our finer sense of Justice.

Let us be rightly concerned about the plights of both GMA and the farmers of HL - let us be solicitous for their deliverance - the former from an unjust retribution and the latter from further exploitation.

We are after all, one nation - not two, or three, or four - but one.

---<--@

Running Commentary -

20111209: Mind you, I too pine for Justice to come favor our Republic with the full measure of her virtue.

Now, the Justice I thirst for is not in spirit animated by either vengeance or hatred. [Please see the 3rd Cause.]

The Justice I seek for us, my people, is not the crude give and take rule of the wilderness but the virtue that restores the truth to end all injustices.

We should therefore be wary of a false sense of justice in our midst in much the same way we guard against false hope.

This is what I mean when I say we should be wary.

We should not allow ourselves [our hearts and our minds] to be drawn into a meaningless sense of division but stand steadfastly on the strength of first principles.

It is not fair having to have to choose between two co-equal branches of the one government we have entrusted to carry forward the singular vision of our one Republic peace.

While, it is true that the Supreme Court's most recent decisions seem to be leaning somewhere suspect it still remains that those decisions still are decisions of the Supreme Court.

Man can not live without order. Law is necessary, even laws that are broken and evil, because where there is no law, Man can not long endure.

It is to this order, this nascent Constitutional order, that I perceive the real damage of the current divisions engulfing the Executive and the Judiciary is being received - subtly, with consequences that are very difficult to foresee.

I still do not doubt the President's sincerity but his methods of late especially as regards this row with Chief Justice Corona seem to wax less than the nobility of his intentions.

Therefore, may both the Executive and the Judiciary work together to decisively put an end to their disagreements and present to us, the people, a united will and a common vision.

20111212: If it was that the 2004 elections were indeed hi-jacked, we have a lot more soul searching to do as a nation than I previously thought... I think about it and leads me to a place so dark and so deep i don't want to go there just yet.

Does this mean we might still be in denial as a people as regards to how sick and impoverished our one Republic truly is?

Does this mean it hasn't yet completely dawned upon us how far-reaching and broad our responsibilities to each other is to see our nation through this long night?

20111214: I've been reading some really polarizing articles on the impeachment of Chief Justice Corona - minds out there seem split, conflicted between their condemnation of one or the other (President Noy or the Chief Justice).

I think this is why due process should take its place. Because if we do not see this trial to the end, we - the people - will never know.

It is this ignorance that is dangerous.

Furthermore, I sense something is off about they way Chief Justice Corona delivered his most recent speech - it was as if he was digging in for a fight - but a fight with whom?

On the other hand, President Noy is taking great pains to frame his arguments even at great cost to his political capital, working and thinking hard to clarify his position amidst words like dictator, enemies of the court, and Hitler.

It might not be anger or hatred (or revenge) that we are presently seeing from our President but sheer determination and history might recognize it as such.

In any case, due process must take its place...

20111215: Define independence. Independence from what? I think what our Country needs is a new generation of citizen-servants!

---<--@

I want you to bear - into your heart and mind -

that old familiar Flag - our Old Defiant.

- selah -

We can not be the Country we weren't meant to be,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise.

Therefore,

we have to be better than that

if for no other reason than because

we deserve better than that.

Salutation #73

If you love something, make sure you can defend it.

(Peace is Prologue)

These were the days,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

when our nation was still a leading light in our region -

those days have now passed away into today

when all seem dark and the night is deep...

But you know now as well as I do

that the 'morrow for our land is not so far away

- each of us know it by heart how to get there -

what we must decide upon today is how to get there

- together this time.

For there is no getting into the morning

for our Land of the Morning - without unity -

and this unity is our peace

- a pledge to both heaven and earth -

that we belong.

---<--@

Sinag Tala

Sisikatan din tayo ng sinag araw - bayan ko -

kapag isa na uli ang ating puso at buo na uli ang ating bukas.

Pero bago ang lahat - habang madilim pa rin ang gabi -

ang sinag tala muna ang dapat nating malaman at masilayan sa isa't isa.

'Pagkat kapayapaan ang tunay ang himig ng Pasko

- ngayon at magpakailanman ang katotohana'y laging ngang ganito -

sana'y mapagnilay-nilayan natin ito.

---<--@

Maghari po sana ang kapayapan ng Diyos sa lupain ng Pangako.

God Encompassing God

PREAMBLE of the 1987 Constitution -

"We, the sovereign Filipino people,

imploring the aid of Almighty God,

in order to build a just and humane society,

and establish a Government

that shall embody our ideals and aspirations,

promote the common good,

conserve and develop our patrimony,

and secure to ourselves and our posterity,

the blessings of independence and democracy

- under the rule of law -

and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace,

do ordain and promulgate this Constitution."

- selah -

O LORD,

God encompassing God,

God encompassing All in Thyself!

O LORD,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -

Blessed Unity,

Holy Trinity,

Perfect Company!

O LORD,

there is none but Thee,

there is none like Thee!

O LORD,

Thou art from everlasting to everlasting -

in Thee All draw their being,

in Thee All draw their living life,

in Thee there is no shadow of turning,

in Thee there is neither darkness nor Night,

in Thee there is joy, abundance and peace,

in Thee there is only love and the Light!

O LORD,

Thou desire salvation for all beings

to Whom shall all needful souls turn to,

my God, but to Thee?

O LORD,

Thou art the one Sovereign of all nations

unto Whom shall Thy exile peoples return to,

my God, but unto Thee?

Abide in us, O LORD, be with us!

Be the God of our lives, our families,

and our national communities!

O Goal of all my goals,

I love, I trust, and I adore Thee!

---<--@

For God is a God of relationships;

the singular Source of all true belonging -

seen and unseen, all of Sacred Life come together in Him.

He is the LORD, He Who is, and there is none but Him;

the one Sovereign of all the nations of the children of Mankind.

---<--@

ADDED: 20130526Sun

We enter into the mystery of the Divine Unity to be alone with the Alone.
We enter into the mystery of the Holy Trinity to be intimate with the Intimate.

And we who are called to be witnesses of the Redeeming Love of Christ 

are called to be alone with the Alone AND intimate with the Intimate.

Let us reflect on the number 1 as the number for perfection: with the Father, Son, and Spirit as the perfect unity of order, purpose and relation - the God Who is, the LORD Who Loves us all - one God, in Persons three. Happy Holy Trinity Sunday 2013.
---<--@

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.

Real Stars

Some stars are fake, some are real -

of the fake ones, the heart can feel,

because of the real ones,

when one can tell -

it's their nearness to our earth

that makes it sell.

Real stars shine with a warmth

that often reaches us

and are full of genuine concern

but fake ones really don't connect

as much as we would like,

their light is not as warm and comforting

as far as the heart can tell

they could be as far from our earth

as heaven is to hell.

---<--@

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.
---<--@

Salutation #71

Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:

"I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son,

I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;

your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing - all this because you obeyed my command."

- Genesis 22: 15-18

(An Abrahamic Prayer)

LORD God,

We humbly implore Thee:

help all Thy Muslims,

help all Thy Jews,

help all Thy Christians,

help us in all Thy nations, dear God -

help us to find each other in the dark.

Incline each our hearts

unto Thee, O LORD,

our one True Light.

Refresh our spirits!

May we be as a people

after Thy own Heart, O LORD,

all Thy numberless stars,

guided by the light of Thy Peace

and blessed by Thy will of good

for all Mankind.

Forsake us not, O LORD,

lest we perish in the darkness.

Fulfill in us that promise

Thou swore to our Father Abraham,

that promise Thou hast made of old,

O LORD, that Thou shalt lead us ever onward,

that Thou shalt guide us

toward the building of a better world

for all Thy nations.

By the light of Thy own faithfulness,

O LORD, bind us together

in the unity of Thy own Truth.

Establish Thy Holy Presence in our hearts

as a revelation upon the nations,

that Thou art God, O LORD,

He Who is, the LORD!

And let this be as the dawning

of Thy glory upon the earth.

AMEN.

---<--@

Therefore,

may our understanding of Peace

- be blessed with abundance -

by the one LORD of our nation

and of all nations - the God of Peace.

May our will be directed by God

to the truth that we are one nation,

- brothers and sisters -

in the singular labor of peace

and peace which brings

true prosperity, happiness,

and the realization of our nationhood.

May our common salutation of Peace

be a reflection of the fullness of this knowledge

in our heart of hearts - that -

as children of the Promise,

we are all born to that one promise of old

that God made to our Father Abraham

that we shall be a blessing to our nations.

Let us be as a light unto each other,

ever as the numberless stars - that -

in the darkness of these times,

shines steadfastly the way forward

into a new age for our one Filipino nation

and for our one family of nations

- a new age of Peace.

Salaam. Shalom. Peace.

Under our one Republic sky,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we are but one House - one lineage of victory -

for this House doth serve the LORD,

O my nation - forever!

---<--@

Love Gives

IV - Love Gives -

The giving is the gift.

Inasmuch as the heart understand thankfulness

so too shall the soul value the importance of gift.

Therefore,

let generosity rule thy heart

for the art of giving is difficult

and the way of receiving

even more so -

- selah -

Every joyful giver knows how it is to be thankful

for every true giver is always a true receiver first.

---<--@

Love Shines

III - Love Shines -

The Love of God is as bright as Day

and the heart of Man pines for its fullness.

The heart of Man awaits the coming of the LORD

like the Darkness awaits the dawning of the Light.

For we are the image of God

in each of ourselves,

the likeness of our Creator -

God fills us with His Love

and our hearts come to life in Him.

God comes to us

and He becomes God to us

by the Love we choose

to receive from Him.

For all of love is a giving;

a freedom that begins with God

and ends again with God.

It clothes us with the dignity to be

and empowers us with the grace to become -

the love of the LORD in each ourselves;

a limitless and omnipotent grace.

For the Lord Christ is the Light

and to Him belong the fullness of the Day.

- selah -

We are the love we give away;

what light we shine unto others -

For all of love is a giving.

It is a freedom.

We become all things by the love we freely give -

a reflection of the self that is shed as a light unto others.

The more we give

the more we become

the image of our true selves.

The less light that we shine

the less brightly we stand out

in the midst of the darkness.

A friend becomes a friend

by the reflection of the friendship

he or she offers to others souls

not unlike him or herself.

A father clothes himself

with the dignity of a father

by the light of the love

he gives away -

A husband clothes himself

with the dignity of a husband

by the light of the love

he gives away -

In the same way,

wife becomes a mother

and a mother, a sister,

and a sister, a friend.

---<--@

Love Happens

II - Love Happens -

If I myself can not accept you

- for who you really are -

then, who am I?

If I myself can not accept you

for what you have done or have failed to do

- whether good or bad -

then, what is good and what is bad?

Am I not only a reflection of the love I offer?

If I feign love, I am unsure.

But if I am true,

I will see you - for all that you are.

And I will say, "yes indeed!"

Beauty is when love is in the heart.

---<--@

Love Dares

I - Love Dares -

Can you hide it when you are in love?

Would you be a fool and feign affection when there is none?

For love is like a song that must be heard!

When love sings, there is harmony and it knits every word.

When there is no love, there are only words and no rhyme.

When a fool sings, it is without meaning.

For only a lover can sing to the heart.

Love is wise that makes itself vulnerable.

So when you are in love, make sure to let thy beloved know.

In the midst of the din and the haste

of thy everyday living, let thy beloved know -

with words but especially without, sing her a song.

Let thy beloved know of thy love -

let the whole world hear of thy sweet, sweet melody

and everything will soon fall quiet as your hearts begin to sing...

---<--@

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.)

20111110

The National Peace

Hi there!

You know as well as I do that I am (as well as you are) fully committed to the peace of our Philippines.

Now then, my brothers and sisters of the Promise, restoring the native peace of our beloved Country is not just about fighting and negotiations.

Though we hear so much about it in the news, the peace that we speak about here - when we talk about peace - is much, much more than that...

You'd be surprised.

The peace we desire does not require every one of us to possess a soldier's heart and acquire a warrior's skill.

Winning the peace for our Philippines does not require every one of us to become involved in politics or any of those high-level, hush-hush things that seem beyond the power and scope of the everyday, ordinary Filipino on the ground.

99% of us are not directly involved in the peace process. We are the other 99. This is so since, the political peace is distinct from the national peace.

So let me be clear on this - peace is essentially all about relationships.

To impress upon the nation, our conviction of the right things, as ordinary citizens, we must each understand in the broadest sense that our civic peace is all about loving and caring - all things and all persons both great and small - as well as each those places in time and their associated memories - families, friends, compatriots - least to great - which is everything that connects us together across our generations in one timeless, seamless remembrance.

Remember when I told you that a Filipino is a kind of love and this love binds us together into one nation? Well, its true. Its not just a romantic myth, its a basic fact of our national life.

Truly, we are to love our our own and others like our own...

So from today, we're also going to talk about love... (And I might even begin a new series of open salutations just about love - love in all its wondrous forms - from the romantic to the practical, from the sweet to the bitter but necessary kind - especially that love which must be between Man and Woman.)

I - Love Dares -

Can you hide it when you are in love?

Would you be a fool and feign affection when there is none?

For love is like a song that must be heard!

When love sings, there is harmony and it knits every word.

When there is no love, there are only words and no rhyme.

When a fool sings, it is without meaning.

For only a lover can sing to the heart.

Love is wise that makes itself vulnerable.

So when you are in love, make sure to let thy beloved know.

In the midst of the din and the haste

of thy everyday living, let thy beloved know -

with words but especially without, sing her a song.

Let thy beloved know of thy love -

let the whole world hear of thy sweet, sweet melody

and everything will soon fall quiet as your hearts begin to sing...

---<--@

II - Love Happens -

If I myself can not accept you

- for who you really are -

then, who am I?

If I myself can not accept you

for what you have done or have failed to do

- whether good or bad -

then, what is good and what is bad?

Am I not only a reflection of the love I offer?

If I feign love, I am unsure.

But if I am true,

I will see you - for all that you are.

And I will say, "yes indeed!"

Beauty is when love is in the heart.

---<--@

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.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Yes to NO Political Graffiti!