Loyola Papers Vol. 2 No. 2 (2021)

Half a millenium ago, the Spaniards came to these islands. Half a millenium ago, Ignatius was hit by a cannonball in Pamplona. Half a millenium ago, who would have thought that such seemingly unremarkable, and in some ways even unfortunate and unwelcome events – of some famished sailors landing and a hapless soldier wounded in battle – would give birth to one of the biggest Christian nations and the biggest religious congregation in the Church today? “God writes straight in crooked lines,” as Teresa of Avila says. Dios escribe derecho en renglones torcidos, often without us noticing.

En renglones torcidos. A fitting image of our situation, mired as we are in a world of constant disruption, aptly described as VUCAD: volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous and digital. The Covid-19 pandemic only brought to the fore how precariously unstable our position was, while auguring how even more unsettled it is bound to become with the long-term effects of all these lockdowns looming in the horizon. Here in the Philippines, we will soon elect a new President and other national leaders but the choices do not seem very promising.