Your mantra for the week:
I am ready to experience all the good that the universe has for me now.

Be still and know that God is within and around you now. Believe and know that you’re one with this power. Be still and know that when you decide on a matter, it shall be established unto you.

Decide now that you are ready to experience all the good that the universe has for you. Decide at this very moment to be healthy all the days of your life, so that each day you express energy and enthusiasm, you are able to accomplish everything through your body, the temple of the living spirit.

Decide that it shall always be filled with vigor and vitality; it does not matter how old it is. Decide that it will be new every day. Decide that youth will be with you all the days of your life. And this shall be so because you are willing and open to accept new ideas.

Deciding is decreeing. Decide on a matter and it shall be established unto you. Decide right now that you are ready to experience all the abundance of the kingdom of God here and now.

Abundance is everywhere. There is enough food to feed every human being on earth. And yet, there are those who are hungry for surely they have not decided that the kingdom of God is within them and they shall always be provided for.

Many have decided that life is difficult and that one has to struggle just to stay alive. But you are different. You have decided that you deserve the very best. You have decided that enough money will be with you all the days of your life, for you are entitled to this as your divine inheritance. And you have decided you deserve it.

Decisions, decisions

Decide on a matter and it shall be established unto you. What have you decided your life to be? Have you decided to forgive all those that have to be forgiven in your life?

Have you decided to release all the events and circumstances that don’t uplift you and do not produce the circumstances that you desire?

Have you decided that it is not worth resenting anyone, anything or any event in your life?

Decide on a matter and it shall be done unto you. Love is a learning process. Learn to love yourself more and decide you are worth loving. For if you do not, you will continue to carry self-hatred and guilt until you decide that you deserve the most wonderful loving relationships—that people are capable of being faithful, true and loyal, that there are wonderful people surrounding you.

Then and only then, will you attract new people, events and circumstances into your lives.

Have you finally decided to be successful? Yes, it is a decision in the same way it is a decision to be happy.

Decide now and say to yourself once more, “I am ready to experience all the good that the universe has for me now.”

There are many talents and abilities that you have. But it is a decision you must make to use them. It is a decision you must make to express these talents, these abilities, to make a difference in the world.

Have you decided to be wise? Wisdom means the realization that there is a power within you that is there for you and will always assist you and direct you through life.

Let it go

Decide now to let go of all your dislikes, your hates. They must go to make room for new events and circumstances and new people in your life.

Purifying your mind is disciplining your mind to have only things you desire, only things you have decided would make your life better and contribute to the people whose lives you touch.

Listen to that still, small voice you always hear as you quiet your mind, as you still your emotions: “My beloved child, there are many things that you have learned that you have to unlearn. You were taught many things that you now have to reexamine and whatever is not contributing to your joy and lovingness must go. You know better now and so you will teach your children what you have learned, what it means to understand that the I am is within each one of them, that I am there at their beck and call, that life is beautiful, that all this is at hand.”

‘Noli Me Tangere’ gala night

The “Noli Me Tangere Opera” opens  Sept. 11, also the birth anniversary of President Ferdinand Marcos. This seems ironic and accidental but on the universal level, there are no accidents.

J&S Productions did not consciously choose Sept. 11 as gala night, but I am happy they did because Jose Rizal is one of the lights that led us to freedom from Spanish rule, and freedom at any time is a virtue devoutly to be wished.

Speaking of the 1896 revolution, in the ancestral home of my great grandfather Felipe de la Fuente where Rizal often visited in San Rafael, Bulacan, a bullet can still be found in one of its posts—a distinct reminder that Filipinos had the deepest desire for freedom from oppression, from abuse and the violations of human rights.

This was proven yet again when Marcos fled into exile after Edsa I. The difference is that there were no guns and no weapons like there were in our first major fight for freedom.

Sen. Bongbong Marcos says, “My father did not do anything wrong.”

I would like to remind him ever so gently of the human rights violations that were committed by his father’s dictatorship. America mourns its 9/11 where almost 3,000 people perished because of terrorism. It was, at least, open and obvious, while in the Philippines, it was done more subtly.

10,000 victims

We still don’t know how many people had disappeared with no trace at all during the Marcos dictatorship. There are, however, 10,000 victims of martial law who are applying for compensation with the Human Rights Commission. Jerry Barican and I are two of those 10,000.

We recently filed our claims but Jerry is now comatose and under life support, which is set to be removed any day now as his last will.

I believe in miracles, and at this writing, his Germanic spirit is still wanting to live.

Jerry and I proudly attended UP Prep High School and were the two TOYD awards (Ten Outstanding Young Detainees) at Camp Crame. His activist life is legend.

“Noli Me Tangere” is set to music form as an opera by two National Artists: Felipe de Leon, National Artist for Music; and Guillermo Tolentino, National Artist for Sculpture, who wrote the libretto.

Loida Nicolas-Lewis, with J&S Productions Inc. (Jerry Sibal, Edwin Josue and Mark Manalang), is bringing to the world this opera that runs from Sept. 11 to 28 at Resorts World Manila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater.

Tenor Sal Malaki plays Crisostomo Ibarra with alternate Ivan Nery, with soprano Rachelle Gerodias as Maria Clara with alternate Myramae Meneses.

The opera is directed by Freddie Santos, with Rodel Colmenar conducting the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra.

The government should give Lewis a title of ambassador of culture and goodwill.

New Minstrels Divos repeat

Another musicale  to watch is “Sincerely The New Minstrels Divos, The Repeat,” which is back due to insistent public demand. It will be held at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City, on Sept. 13 and 19 at 8 p.m.

The concert at the Teatrino, Greenhills, was packed and many people have requested that they bring this show to Makati City; the producers have acquiesced.

The Divos are made up of Rene Puno, Ding Mercado, Eugene Villaluz and Chad Borja.

Add to the remarkable individual talents of the Divos, the quintessential Ray-An Fuentes as guest singing the classics of the ’60s and you have a show that will bring back happy memories.

Their Broadway medley is truly brilliant. Sincerely this is a must-see concert.

Decide on this matter, watch both events and we will see you there.