I asked Susan to get her camera while I grabbed the nearest horn, and we went outside to make a spur of the moment recording of “What a Wonderful World.” Knowing that the cloud formation would change at any moment, this needed to be one take, warts and all! May it bring you a feeling of goodwill, peace, and hope.

Maybe we all need to sit quietly someplace, listen to the birds or the surf or a child’s laughter. Anything that makes you feel calm and gives you a moment to reflect on something positive.

Once I accepted this little bat for what it was, I was able to close my eyes and sleep! I slept that night better than I had in a long long time. Every night until I left, I would hear the little bat come into my house, I would say a little greeting to it, then drift into a pleasant and restful night.

As I look back, (and writing this has made that necessary) on the past 11 months I realize that this time has been a deeply happy and satisfying time in my life. I have learned to slow down, to be intentional, to appreciate.

The state of our society today, however, seems to thrust this familiar verse into our everyday lives in a new and more immediate way. The patterns of our lives have been disrupted and short term concerns and worries crowd out seemingly all else. We perceive novel challenges at every turn. We have hopes for positive outcomes, but assurance seems very hard to come by. Do we have faith? Can we have faith?

Growing up somewhat and being at a curious stage, I suddenly asked my Dad one day, “Why DO we believe in God?” He answered: “FAITH in God is the bedrock of humanity. It has carried me through good times and bad. God will help you through all of this if you have FAITH”.

As
certainty, know.

"How do you stand it ?"a close friend asked me not long ago. It is not always easy. Some days my tears flow freely, especially during the holiday season. I know I am not alone So many, maybe most of us, have suffered great losses of one type or the other during this time of the COVID-19 and in our lives. Through all our sufferings, God is with us. I have experienced this reality many times in my life. This I, with
certainty, know.

The psychologists who work with resiliency point to a range of other resources that contribute to resiliency, many of which involve ways and degrees of connection and community, apart from the attributes of the individual. When those can be strengthened and enlarged, both the individual and the community are more resilient. I pause at this – doesn't this echo strongly a message we hear so often at St John's, that the work of the church is community?

I wish for all of us the power to be resilient. I think we need to be, right now.

January 2021. Resilience. I can’t think of a more loaded and complex word that fits so perfectly into the time and space that is this moment, this day, and this year.

Resilience is…