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FEBRUARY

OUR DAYS
Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom Psalm 90:12

This day...the Writ of Habeas Data takes effect -

Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno explained “There is more than a chilling prospect that one’s profile formed from the gathering of data from various sources may divulge private information to the public. There is also the unsettling thought that these data may be inaccurate, outdated or worse, misused...”

According to the Chief Justice, many violations of the right to informational privacy have taken place around the globe. "For instance, the US State Department found that more than 90 countries monitor the communications of political opponents, human rights workers, journalists and labor organizers. There have also been more than 100,000 illegal wiretaps in France done by private parties and mostly on behalf of the government. The police in many countries also keep files on citizens for political purposes even though these people have not been accused of any crime. In the US, companies use credit information for marketing, while banks sell credit information to marketers."

“The Supreme Court is not blind to the happenings of the present. Always there is a need to balance the powers of the government and the right of the individual so that we can all enjoy the ever elusive ’just and human society’ where over one’s own mind and body, the individual remains sovereign,” said Puno.

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OUR JOURNEY
Take...no bag for the journey...for the laborer deserves his food. Matthew 10:10

Unknown to many, Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno is a United Methodist Lay Leader. It is apparent that his thoughts, his writings, his opinion on most issues brought before his court are wrought with wisdom rarely found even in the best legal libraries of the world. Reading and hearing him brings one to the hallowed court of King Solomon. Watching him in action, that is, following him bring the more important issues to the people rather than wait for the people to present their grievances is even more fascinating. That is what the Writ of Habeas Data is all about and also the Writ of Amparo before it. Chief Justice Puno takes the initiative. He is on a journey to deliver the Writ of Amos in the hands of the people. In the process, we have no doubt he is on an inside journey as well, zealously pursuing for himself the same holiness every believer is tasked to achieve for himself. "Are you going on to perfection?" is every United Methodist Christian's daily concern. The writers of The Way of Pilgrimage remind us of this reality too -

To be a pilgrim means to attend to our inward journey alongside giving attention to our outward journey. We often find it easier to notice what is going on around us than to explore what is going on within us.

This pilgrimage is about being and about going. It is as much about staying attuned to the inward journey of our soul as the outward journey of our body. We must tend to the singing of our soul and to the wounds of our soul, as well as the bumps and bruises to our body.
Kyle Dugan and Craig Mitchell, Choosing Pilgrimage, p. 17

To read The Way of Pilgrimage, CLICK HERE and KEY IN YOUR PASSWORD
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OUR TRIBUTE
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

With the prophet we pray, let us journey on through the valley...with Christ and help make "justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24)."