By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Behold, the Invisible Hand
Economics as a discipline is both science and art. But no matter how much we make scientific calculations, there is always an error in the outcome of events and things. Naa gyud gihapo’y sipyat.
Recent chaotic events in our nation are leaving people impoverished. Unsaon na ni karon nato, nga tanan palitinon ming taas ug saka man gyud ang presyo?. Last Wednesday was our town market day in Baclayon and I noticed that per kilo of pork was P350. Today, it is P370 per kilo. And it was announced that there is going to be a sudden high increase of per liter of gasoline. There’s a little respite for the price of palay and rice. Ang bugas tag P45 na kada kilo. This is because the product comes from our local farmers and distributed through the local government unit from the provincial agriculture office.
Meantime many people are on the watch for all kinds of ayuda from the candidates. Political parties are gone, so with our political ideals.. Ang mga tawo pud karon, naa pa ba’y panglantaw sa kaugalingon, familia ug sa atong nasud??? Lisud kaajo ning atong pamolitika. Aduna pa ba kita’y paglaum nga makahaw-as sa atong kahimtang. Is there still a silver lining?
Amidst the chaos of the world and in this nation in particular, we will just pray for the Invisible Hand to miraculously lead us to the peace and calmness that we need. Indeed, we need Divine Intervention, that pair of Hands to guide us. Mao ni ang gitawag sa among Literature teacher nga DEUS EX MACHINA! I am sure that time will come. It will come but not the way we want it. Sa dili pa na moabot, purgahon pa gyud ta sa Ginoo. Nganong purgahon man? It is because our leaders have become what and who they are today because we allowed them to become such. We allowed ourselves to be trampled upon with our right of suffrage. We allowed ourselves to be bought by some “pieces of silver. We allowed ourselves to keep silent when there was an avenue to shout to the world the inadequacies of leadership. Unsa pa man diay? Kita ra man unta ang magbo-ot sa atong boto. Our vote is sacred. Pero mitugot ta nga panamastamasan ang atong katungod ug katungdanan.
We have a God of second chances. His hand is always ready to welcome us. If we ask forgiveness with repentance and humility, the Lord is a kind Lord who will give us the forgiveness we want..
In the middle of this Lenten season, let’s do our reflection and ask forgiveness for the things we have done and for the things we have failed to do.
Hope is in all of us. And in this season of Lent, it is for us to work on that silver lining in our lives.
We always need the Invisible Hand in good times and in bad times.
