Huwag Mabahala

Pabugso-bugso
man ang dilim at sigwa,
ganyan talaga...

Biygan mong dunong
at ito'y maglilinaw
sa 'yong isipan.

Ang tala
ay ilaw.
---<--@



Kanlungan

Nakalilito man
at madilim ang mundo,
mga kapatid ko sa Pangako,
huwag tayong mabahala
at huwag mawalan ng loob -
huwag matakot sa gabi!

Pananalig sa Diyos,
kapayapaan sa ating bansa;
kagandahang loob sa bawa't isa
bunga nang pagkakapatirang
namumuhay sa ating diwa,
at pagmamahal natin sa ating
nag-iisang sambayanang Pilipinas -
ito ang lagi nating maaasahan;
ang ating kanlungan sa gabi
at daan tungo sa umaga.

Plateau

Featureless expanse -
no wind, no change, only me...
upon this plateau.

Wherefore should I go?
I came from there, I should know...
upon this plateau.

Wherefore should I go?
I am plainly lost, I know...
left, right, up, below.

The best thing when lost
as the Gospel says, "stay put".
Jesus will find me.

So I should...
I'll stay still.
---<--@

Before the Law

THE ETERNAL LAW is the binding force of the laws of the nations.

We live under God

for God builds - always with us -

everywhere, in us.

The LORD calls to us.
We heed the voice of our King.
The nation is built.

No one else's yoke

is as light and as sweet as

the yoke of our King!

Before us, the Law -

'tis the commandments God spake,

written in our hearts.

Before us, the Law -

ever always to remind

of Who is above.

So law does

not oppress.

---<--@

We are a Republic, my people,

- an order and a purpose -

gathers our times, talents

and treasures together.

It is an order -

inexhaustible and eternal,

beautiful beyond our imagination.

It is a purpose -

divinely ordained and infinite,

beyond our naked capacity to compehend.

We a nation ruled NOT

by randomness and chance.

There is a distinctive spirit

that calls together and binds

all our generations together

- this spirit of nationhood -

we know, in our hearts.

For God is our King

and the reign of the LORD

is neither mindless nor blind!

- selah -

We do not live under any law,

my beloved people, for we are a free nation.

We live before it, ever before it!

The law is placed

ever before the people

that we may work as individuals,

with and among each other as citizens,

moment to moment, day by day,

according to the freedom of our gifts,

and the better purposes of the LORD,

to better and more effectively

accept and conform

to each necessary social adaptations

required of us by the law,

shaping and enriching our culture,

enabling our community to innovate,

to survive, and to prosper - as one.

In this way,

law is as a mold - that -

helps to give a proper shape

to our particular society

and this requisite shape

is always a thing

guided by reason,

enlightened by faith,

and demanded by Providence -

each in its own due season,

as required by the needs

of every present time.

- selah -

Law is what deters evil
from afflicting all who are covered
by the law.

Therefore,
the surest way a community

- may place itself -

under the protection of the law

is by abiding with the law.

---<--@

The law exists for everybody or none at all.

No Worries!

SOME PEOPLE own up to their problems

- while -

some people allow their problems to own them.

Of the two,

the former choose to belong with their hopes,

the latter choose to belong with their problems.

I choose to belong with my hopes!

Why should I worry -

worries don't belong me,

so why carry them?

Problems are like weights

they help to strengthen my hopes

making them ready...

My worries will end!

So I cling to them lightly...

till my hopes take wing.

Problems end

so leave 'em...

---<--@

Didn't you know it's darkest before dawn?

Fast Fact: In Australia, "no worries" is an ATTITUDE.

It's called hopefulness.

Tempest

Sometimes you're floating

in a sea of temptations -

afraid, in the dark.

You grin and bear it.

And hold out against the storm.

By the thinnest threads.

And it ends.

And you're back.

---<--@

The Tempest

Just as every storm has a duration.

Every temptation has a limit.

A limit set by God, so as to challenge the soul,

and not to defeat it.

To reach this limit is the task of patience.

To fall short of this limit, more so.

Our spirit becomes stronger in its flight

- ever by the grace of our God -

when we, despite ourselves,

constantly reach out for the calm we know is out there,

beyond the tempest.

To endure the tempest constantly

is the domain of holy perseverance.

And holy perseverance brings us home to God.

- selah -

"Do not bring us to the test,

but deliver us from evil."

AMEN.

The First Talk

We are the first talk.

At the dawn of All Creation -

one song of glory!

A prayer to God

unbroken since time began

in the Silence heard.

A song of greatness,

devoted hymns of gladness

amidst the darkness...

A song of praises,

bursting forth in wondrous rhyme -

the timeless in time!

Everywhere rising!

All creation is talking

without words to God.

A song of wonder

preserved through faded Eden

unbroken by War.

We are the first talk.

At the dawn of Salvation -

one song of glory!

May you hear

the first talk.

---<--@

Will of the Wanderer

With every life, there is a longing
and within each heart, it is felt,
because there is within each soul,
an absence, mysterious and sublime -
like a truth, cloaked in questions,
like a desire within a desire.

In an unfamiliar, uncaring earth,
amidst the wilderness of this world,
it draws us near to familiar things.

Under unknowing, unfeeling skies,
among empty shells of broken dreams,
it knowingly leads us along safe paths.

With every dawning, it recalls us;
for our labors, it rewards us;
when we are at rest, it reminds us;
during mealtimes, it welcomes us;
when we are at play, it guards us;
with every prayer, it blesses us;
with every good, it leads us;
when we repent, it teaches us;
when we forgive, it forgives us;
when we grieve, it consoles us;
when we rejoice, it hears us;
when we sleep, it renews us;
when we fail, it tempers us;
when we forget, it remembers us;
when we succeed, it preserves us;
when we seek, it find us;
at every trial, it fortifies us;
from all evil, it delivers us;
at all times, it keeps us;
throughout our days, it sustains us;
and in eternity, it recognizes us -
for by our names, it knows us.

It is that which stirs from within,
that which calls us to remembrance
that which in stillness is stillness sought
that which loves our needful mankind
that which completes, makes whole
that which deeply yearns -
for the absent heart of humanity.

Bereft of answers, lacking in truth
forlorn of strength, exiles to destiny -
where there is a seeking for solace:
It remind us of our life's purpose;
an awakening that patiently waits
in the abode of the true self -
like the quiet to calm the storm.

It is the peace at every journey's end,
the Heart at the heart of all creation,
calling the wandering will back home.
---<--@

Prayers Like Glue

My spirit slows down...

and my prayers feel like glue.

I feel tired inside.

So I look for it...

look for what's familiar.

Then I feel more tired.

Life slows down,

so must I.

---<--@

Lesson Learned: One does not dictate the tempo of the spiritual life. One gets dictated to.

If one seeks for more than one is presently entitled. One gets depressed.

Because even if ours is the faith to move mountains. The moving of the mountains is not ours - only the believing, the accepting... the love.

Alleluia to the LORD!

Adoration to Jesus Christ the Lord!

Absolute

Why do many fail
to become what Truth there is
in the unseen life?

Sin is division:
knowledge of good and evil
God or godlessness.

Make your path
absolute.
---<--@

Single Not Alone

If you're the reason

I'm single, my darlingest -

then let it be so...

But let God bless me

with sweetness of purity

forever with you.

Then let us

live to serve.

---<--@

My Prayer for my Anne -

O Father of mercy and of love, in the deepest, darkest depths of despair, You have blessed me with a special friendship. The very first star in the firmament of the darkest night of my life.

You gave me Annelies Marie Frank, O Lord, as a light against despair. The first glimmer of hope that leads to faith in things everlasting and unseen.

Loving Father, thank you so much for blessing me with a friend as precious as Anne. Grant me, O Lord, I humbly pray, with the love to cherish her now and forever.

AMEN.

The Walk of Life

Walk the walk of life!

Neither seek nor avoid strife...

say peace, go through it.

The road you must take

is the path you must make, friend,

that leads to freedom.

Ascend the mountain!

Make the path yourself and climb...

and you will find - you.

Set your heart

on the LORD!

---<--@

Refiner's Fire

Some people are numb,
they throw like words don't offend,
and for what reason?

Perhaps, they are hurt
and blinded by their own pain,
they mourn at our plight.

Alas, they
should rejoice!
---<--@

My friend,

Humility is not timidity. Humility is not being less of yourself. Neither is humility being more of yourself.

Humility is just being yourself, no more, no less.

It is a free and knowing acceptance of God's will and mysterious purpose for making you you.

"For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation."

(Sirach 2: 5)

Bright Morning Star

Our Holy Father,
Pope Benedict XVI,
once remarked, I learned...

How at Holy Mass,
the Church used to face eastward,
but now, the Pope said -

Christ the Lord
is our East!
---<--@

Christ-centeredness is other-centeredness.

The Call of Grace

Why is there tension
between two oppositions
in the heart of Man?

When the soul is sure
yet the flesh is unwilling
God beckons, "Come see."

The deaf hears,
the blind sees.
---<--@

Life in the Trinity

Knowledge of the Son
and the Father who sent Him,
how is this our faith?

Faith distills like dew
the truths of our Christian faith
upon hearts made free.

Truth is Christ,
Spirit life!
---<--@

God Encompassing God

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!

---<--@

Our God, O my beloved of my heart, is a God of relationships - One, Triune Perfection!

The Saving Cross

O Christ, my Savior!
Why do You allow suff'ring
to burden mankind?

To free us from sin
by our dying from evil
upon Thine crosses...

...O so kind,
God of mine.
---<--@

God did not say it's going to be easy. He said it was going to be worth it.

The Fate of Lot's Wife

There exists a line
between yesterday and Now -
between life and void...

Let go of the past!
For there is no looking back
to see what's ahead.

Stand your ground
in the Now.
---<--@

"But Lot's wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt." (Genesis 19: 26)

Choose absolutely.

Fear

Fear when in excess,
is a cold grip, a blindness,
that undoes reason...

Fear when it's lacking
tempts the good to spurn wisdom,
and undoes the brave.

It quickens
the alert.
---<--@

Fear of the LORD is not a fear of hurting God, for who can hurt God?

Fear of the LORD is a proper reverence of the reality of God and a fear of hurting our relationships with Him.

It is the only fear that quickens the alert -

Sometimes God brings us down low in order to raise us into a reverence of the Truth that God is and He is God, the LORD!

If you love the LORD, you will fear Him.

If you fear the LORD, you will obey Him.

If you obey the LORD, He will be with you always -

even unto the end of the age.

Scrupulosity

When there is darkness

leave plenty of room for God

to fill you with light.

Where there is shadow

leave plenty of room for faith -

Don't beat yourself up.

Trust to God,

He is able!

---<--@

Scrupulosity sees darkness when there is only shadow and shadow where there is none.

It is form of vice; a deficiency in faith. It leaves little room for a healthy sense of trust in God to flourish. It arouses needless fears and anxieties and is rooted in a secret sense of false pride.

You don't imagine sin. You don't imagine love. Because both exists and is therefore knowable.

So know, else trust in God. He is worthy of all your love and trust. Do your best to be good is all you can do, you can never go past the you being you.

So leave some room for the sunshine, dear starshine.

Let it be, let it shine!

Release

This life is warfare,
the ancient bondage of sin:
what then is freedom?

Our release is Truth
that break the chains of slav'ry;
giving to be free.

To let God
is release.
---<--@

Freedom that is free is free indeed!

The Ascent

Is life consequence?
Or is life choice lived freely?
How the mount ascends...

Only when you know
what truth there is in the good,
shall your prayers rise.

But evil
shall descend.
---<--@