A few weeks ago I was listening to MPR as they were once again reflecting and reporting on the devastation of the storms that hit the New Jersey shore a year ago. They used a phrase that stuck with me. They described this community as one ‘not built for resilience”. I remember how my eyes widened and my head seemed to jerk toward the radio at this particular combination of words and all they implied. A community not built for resilience. Then I thought of the impact of Katrina, which has left a city and its people still unhealed even after all these years. And there is Haiti. And this past week, the Philippines. All these, and others whose names escape me, torn to bits by wind and rain and forces the people had no control over. Homes leveled. Families scattered. Lost. Groping around in the daylight and dark to find food, water and anything that looks familiar, theirs.

Resilience. As a parent, I remember talking with other parents about the hope of raising resilient children. Those young ones who could take the inevitable knocks of life from pillar to post and still be able to pull themselves up, remember who they are, and move on. Until the next joy or sorrow hits. Resilience seems to me to be one of the greatest gifts we can give our children, ourselves. But none of us, I believe, embraces that resilient spirit alone. For me that is an impossible task. Resilience comes, not from being a strong individual, but from knowing how intricately woven together we all are in a community. Whether that community is family, neighborhood, church, school, a circle of friends, it makes no difference. So to be a part of a community that is built for resilience is important, imperative, down-right bone, deep necessary. Isn’t it?

Now I recognize that the MPR report was mostly speaking about the ways in which the people along the Jersey shore had built the structures of home and business in ways that did not take into account how they might be called to live in communion with the land and water that is so important to their livelihood. The same could be said about so many of our cities and communities. Because as humans we love the water, the cliffs, the mountains, we forget that we are as equally yoked with this land as we are to the human ones who share our spaces. Living in relationship with how creation works is as important as being kind to our neighbor which can mean we don’t get to do what we want without responsible thought or action.

But if we were to think about and plan for creating a community of resilience, what would it look like? It seems to me being known is important, really important. We need to know one another’s names and the things that make us most alive. When was the last time you asked someone, a child, a friend, a partner what is making them most alive these days? Listening, really listening,to their answer is also important. Kindness is a must. And grace. Then there is the deep belief that most of us are simply doing the best we can. Every day. Over and over.

A resilient community shares some common goodness, or at least a belief that goodness is possible and necessary. This takes a big dose of creativity. Resilience is planted in the soil of seeing the best in the other, helping when we can, knowing that someone will do the same for us when the time comes. The early followers of Jesus knew this and made it a common tenet of what became articulated as faith. Sometimes these days we forget and think this faith is about believing and being with people who believe and look just like us. But resilience can get drowned in such a way of living. So it seems wise to throw the net pretty wide. You just never know when it will be the person who looks, acts, or believes differently who might be the very one who shores up the community after a storm, who picks up the debris that flew wildly in the wind until it landed right in your yard.

I am sure there are so many other traits that help build resilience. You have your own list. But I hope we all can agree that we can no longer afford to be living in communities that are not built for resilience. The normal, daily storms that rock our world will continue to happen. It is the way of life. Let’s remember we are all in this together and do all we can to build not only resilient children but resilient communities.