The Preacher/Steward: Peace On Earth Demands A Life Lived In Preparation ~ Celebration ~ Compassion
To borrow a line from Sam the Wise… ‘Handsome is as handsome does.’ Which means that we can have all the appearance of good but unless we ‘do good’ sooner or later our mask will be stripped away and the true ugly that is within will come become apparent to one and all. This is why the alternative reading of Luke 2:14 never goes away.
“On earth Peace, to people of good will.’
It is our will that is created by our desires that allows God’s flowers to blossom within us. If you have watered the seeds of wisdom, love, compassion, understanding, tenderness, patience, and most of all Peace then on earth you will have wisdom, love, compassion, understanding, tenderness, patience, and most of all Peace. But if you water other seeds other plants from another source will grow in your garden
In the Philippines we are fast approaching the time when most of the people celebrate ‘All Souls Day.’
Originally this was a church celebration that covered three nights and days. Day one was a vigil to prepare the person for the sacred duties they would perform. Day two was spent remembering the righteous who had followed the path well enough to enter heaven upon their death. Day three was spent in prayer for those who after death had not entered Heaven but had found themselves in Purgatory or worse, Hell. Such was the original intent.
Sadly, now it is rarely the reality. Today’s reality is that this sacred season has become a time of drunkenness, lewdness, disrespect, fights, and all night parties. This is such an ugly time in the Philippines that nationwide the police are on high alert.
“Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor, PNP spokesperson, told reporters on Monday that the high alert will be raised to full alert two days before the day of actual observance. Mayor said the full alert will be extended until November 3. The Metro Manila police also activated on Monday Task Force Undas.
Police Director Carmelo Valmoria, National Capital Region Police Office chief, said thousands of policemen will be deployed to 92 cemeteries and more than 100 bus terminals in the metropolis.”
Sam the Wise was right.
It takes more than the ability to camouflage your ugliness to be truly handsome.
If you want Peace on Earth you have to Live Peace on Earth!
The Preacher: For Those Who Need The Healing Path
You, and you alone are the one who will decide to heal or to continue to live in your own personal Hell. I have chosen healing for myself and I offer these 
lessons I have learned in the hope that they are lessons that will help you in your choice.
I read that within me there is compassion, love, tenderness, joy and happiness. There is also intolerance, hatred, hardness, anger and sadness. The choice that I needed to make was ‘which feelings would I nurture and make stronger‘? One path could lead me to peace the other to torment. Being a reasonable person that prefers peace to torment the choice was obvious though not so easy. I have found that the teaching of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh have been a great help. But for those of you who follow other faiths or indeed no faith the same teaching can be found within any faith or philosophy that is based upon compassion, love and wisdom.
The first lesson was an obvious one: I was suffering.
The second lesson was not so obvious: There are proven ways to overcome the suffering.
Lesson three was simple: If I accepted lesson one and applied lesson two I would begin to heal.
Lesson Two
My mind, spirit, soul is a garden. If I tend the garden well it will be a place of beauty and peace. If I don’t the garden will become a place of thorns and ugliness. I need to on a daily basis weed, water, compost and clean my garden. If I water, prune, cultivate and pay attention to compassion, love, tenderness, joy and happiness they will grow and blossom. If at the same time I can ignore the weeds of intolerance, hatred, hardness, anger, and sadness… so much the better.
That’s it folks. It is a truth that can be applied in anyone’s life. It is a teaching that fits within any faith or path that is dedicated to love, justice, mercy and humility. If you have a need to begin healing then please give it a try. I promise that this technique will not harm you and I know it can help you as it has helped many (myself included).
We Are Called To Be Stewards ~ Of This World ~ Of Ourselves 