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Dearest darlingest Miyang Marie,

I dislike chain letters, my love. They prey on people's anxieties, worries, uncertainties and emotions. The people who do them might mean well but why compel a person to do something you want? Why bind their choice with subtle manipulation and sometimes not so subtle psychological intimidation? If you want to persuade a person or give counsel to a soul, you will either LISTEN and/or be direct to the truth (or express it in substance as some truths have no equivalent form in prose - I express them in poetry or prayer) or point straight in that direction and not take the tortuous, one-sided path that twists and turns, manipulates and deceives. I do read them though because except for those very, very rare ones that really need circulation, I instantly put and end to those ones that are wasteful to save others from being annoyed by them.

Truth sets free and therefore, the conditions necessary for truth to be perceived must be that the will of Man is enabled by reason illuminated by faith - that the will be free. Another reason why prayer - and not just personal petition - but prayers offered for or in behalf of other needful souls - is such a Christian or a truly human thing to do, because unless God gives the heart of Man sight to see, that faith will never quicken to the Holy Spirit of the LORD. Man by him or herself is incapable of perceiving realities that make absolute, the experience of our being human. We must bear our burdens not only with Jesus but with each other - this is why salvation can not be achieved by individuals as individuals but as a common destiny - as one House, as one Family, as all of the nations of the one family of the nations of mankind. And I don't care what religion or any other kind of division the person I am praying for or helping belongs to - that person belongs to me and I to him or her - for that is what it means to say, "peace" - it means, "I am here now for you, for I see your need, my beloved friend and constant companion, and I will be to you as your hope in Jesus Christ". How then can this peace ever be won in battle?

I was at Holy Mass yesterday, dear darlingest, and as I received our Lord in Holy Communion, I thought about the last lines in our poem, "Dreamer of Dreams":

Jesus: "Where art thou,
O my dream?"

Communicant: "O my God, here I am,
I am here, my Lord."

Jesus: "I am here, my love."

Communicant: "I am Home."

I love going to Holy Mass. Whenever I go, I feel like I'm going to this great, great feast - that's what I see in my heart - all of heaven and all of earth united in a grand celebration of life. At the head table is our Lord, Jesus Christ - the majestic and gracious Lord of the House, our God and our Master - and at His right is our Mother Mary, smiling serenely, and every time we go, we honor one of our number. The good thing about it is that everybody - without exception, from the least to the greatest, gets a turn to sit with Jesus and our Lady at the head table and to be honored by All - in this way we are always reminded of God's continuing presence in human history. How our Lord shapes human lives is how our God chooses to guide events in salvation history towards the purpose of creation which is true happiness for all of His creatures. The elements of nature, God uses to discipline Man, but our shared humanity, by each our individual willingness to seek, know and love the LORD, our God chooses to use to guide us towards purposes we oftentimes would never understand until the end of time. But these purposes are good, for our LORD is an infinitely beneficent LORD.

There was this one time, I was late for Mass, and I only caught the final blessing. So after the final blessing, I sat at one of the pews and gazed at our Lord near the Tabernacle. He was in my heart tidying up - like we tidy up after a party - and He smiled at me and sat next to me in my pew and said very gently that it all right. I didn't think that was a Sunday Mass - though, I can't remember now - anyway, what I remember was our Lord tidying up after all His guests had left. This is why in my community - I shall only look for two things to determine the quality of a person's willingness to commit to the charism of this apostolate of Holy Mother Church - loyalty to Christ and to the Vicar of Christ. It's that simple.

Sometimes one has to admit though, that one is just holding on to one's faith by the seat of one's pants - sometimes, we just have to trust that we are doing the right thing by Jesus, which is why a personal connection with Christ is essential - and to Roman Catholics, this is a gift that is freely available in the Holy Eucharist. Sacramental grace is like a contract, all of us Catholics must understand, this grace is certain even without faith being sure and because it is, we are sure to be accountable to God for it. We can no longer stand by and see this grace wasted when the world is as it is, needful, broken, bereft of Christ, lacking in hope, wanting in peace.

My mom asked me to write a eulogy for my uncle who just recently passed away. She also asked me to write a poem. You know, its different when you know that people are away than when you know that they're gone, my love. It saddens me but at the same time, it reminds me of the realities of being human - realities that are only meaningful to me as reflections of heaven on earth. Some people do not understand our friendship - as you know, I am open about our friendship - as I'm your proud fan forever, my dear darlingest - you're my star - mine, you're mine - oh, it's different when I say it, it's funnier ./smile - anyways, these friendships, my dear darlingest, are the substance of things that make meaningful and complete, our perception of human reality here on earth that when taken to their highest form, charity or one Love, they become the foretaste of a happiness that we shall all enjoy at the beginning of all things new.

I love you, my Yang-yang Marie.

Always to always,

Pusing