This post is the intro to our guide, Resilience: Rising with Power and Purpose, that provides reflections, scripture and practices to help you create space for resilience: the ability to bounce back and emerge stronger in the midst of harrowing circumstances.
Resilience is grit, elasticity, and the power to face challenges and emerge stronger. It’s not mere survival but using hardships as fuel for progress, transformation, and justice.
Resilience is a fruit—cultivated by God, as seen throughout church history and in our ancestors. Christian hope through Christ enables us to endure hardships without being overcome. We stand in the tradition of marginalized communities, where faith flourishes amid adversity and chaos.
The past few years have left many of us disoriented, trying to find footing in a world still reeling from racial, social, and spiritual reckonings. The noise of polarizing opinions can feel overwhelming, making it crucial to focus on individual and communal soul care. Resilience, a profound ancestral gift, must be nurtured to bloom like a flower pushing through concrete. This is why we are intentionally creating space to cultivate resilience.
Despite challenges, we haven’t stopped dreaming or celebrating. Joy remains within us, and it’s time to live it out. We are here not just to survive but to demonstrate that God has given us the bold audacity to thrive!
To move forward, we must first look back. While Western values focus on the present and future, many Indigenous and global cultures build the future with the past in mind. As we enter this new season, let us:
- Celebrate the good done, lessons learned, and connections made.
- Express gratitude to God and others.
- Lament what is closing and reflect on what we leave behind.
- Seek God’s guidance as we embrace new beginnings.
- Receive God’s healing and renewal.
- Commit to practices that foster resilience and flourishing.
For more ways to engage in practices that cultivate resilience, check out our guide: Resilience: Rising with Power and Purpose.The guide creates space for you to reflect deeply by providing guided reflections, inspiration, and a PDF for personal processing. The appendix offers additional practices for deeper reflection.
[A Note on Scripture:] Many of us have complex feelings about the Bible, especially if past communities emphasized study over other spiritual practices. This guide offers fresh ways to engage Scripture that focus on encountering God rather than academic study. Through reflection, meditation, lectio and visio divina, and prayer, allow God to care for you through the story of divine love woven into the Bible.Let this be a season of celebrating resilience, renewing hope, and trusting God’s care.
