Resilience

Yesterday I read…

‘Lowestoft: a faded Suffolk star is reborn’: Guardian headline. ‘With new arts venues, pubs and restaurants, fancy beach huts and a restored pier, the UK’s most easterly town is getting its mojo back…’

It describes various aspects of Lowestoft… a bit of history ‘Samuel Morton Peto’s dream being for Lowestoft to rival Brighton… Plaques brim with tales of John Wesley, Cromwell and Dickens…’

Quoting from another plaque it concludes: “One thing has remained constant, Lowestoft’s spirit. This is a town defined by its people. Resilience and grit have ensured that, through changing fortunes, Lowestoft continues to thrive.”

Lowestoft’s resilient!

‘I’m proud of my scars’: Woman’s Weekly headline. ‘TV presenter Michaela Strachan on her career, family and life after cancer’

We watched Michaela on children’s TV 35 years ago… most recently she’s presented ‘Springwatch’

‘…nine years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery…

“…At first I’d look in the mirror and think my scars and boobs looked weird. Whereas now I’m so proud of those scars because they tell my story. It’s a story of resilience and survival, so let’s celebrate my weird boobs and my scars.”’

Michaela Strachan’s resilient!

‘If you want to learn resilience, look to Jesus’: Premier Christianity headline – Nicky Gumbel’s sermon to the National Prayer Breakfast for Scotland.

‘Resilience, from the Latin word ‘resilire’, means to rebound, recoil or spring back; not just to absorb pressure and be overwhelmed by it, but to absorb pressure and be able to spring back…

‘How do we build our resilience? …Jesus provides the model. Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us this: “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…”

The word ‘resilience’ never appears in the whole Bible, but the equivalent is perseverance… The writer of Hebrews says that the secret of resilience is looking to Jesus, the model.’

Jesus’ resilience shows me how to be resilient.