The Resilience of Mankind in a Broken World
Resilience. One of the many words that peeled off its layers to reveal a new meaning in 2020. Who knew that the year declared as clear vision would bring to light so many questionable situations? Who knew 2020 would expose so many things that majority of the world was not ready to see? Ironically, 2020 blindsided a lot of us. And yet, we rise resiliently and without apology.
If there is one thing 2020 has taught me, it is the adaptability of the human race to overcome just about anything. Yes, there will be struggles. Yes, there will be lots of error throughout our trials. But sooner or later, we will get it just right. We will rise to the occasion and move forward. I think of the Tower of Babel, where God said, “…If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Genesis 11:6). The Creator knew the power of His creation. He knew how resilient He made them, especially if they came together as one.
2020 has been full of heartache, disappointments and loss for many. The fact that I can even type what I am writing is an achievement. Survival has been an achievement. And yet, if we pause and take a look over the generations gone before us, they have been achieving survival all along. The brokenness of this world has never gone away. This generation just saw it clearer and on a larger scale in 2020 than ever before. We can call 2020 the great revealer of what has always been in plain sight.
My “stable” foundation is built on the brokenness of my ancestors and their resilience to keep living after the losses, heartaches and disappointments. And when I say ancestors, I am not even going as far back as the Atlantic Slave Trade. Rather, the matriarchs and patriarchs of my family who I have known and grown up with. And some of the very same ones that the next generation will not meet until the end of their lives on earth or until Jesus returns.
While I have known them in their older stage of life, I cannot help but wonder, what was their journey like? What were the events that shaped the way they think and influenced them to make certain decisions? What made them raise their children the way they did? What were they like before, during and after the wins and losses of life happened to them? And how has that trickled down to me and how I was raised?
The “normal” that I know is not the same as my mother or father. I hear so many stories of those who went on before I existed. I hear the memories of how my parents’ lives used to be before they experienced the loss of a loved one or even before they moved for a job overseas. 2020 has allowed me to pause and appreciate their resilience through their trials as I have now come to experience my own. I appreciate their decision to keep living after the losses, disappointments and heartaches. I appreciate the normalcy they gave me despite the brokenness they experienced. I appreciate the vulnerability it took for them to celebrate the wins whenever they came.
I have experienced some form of loss and disappointment in 2020 and have watched others experience the same. Life will never be the same for many of us. 2020 has re-shattered the broken foundations of our normalcy. The pieces will never fit how they used to. Nonetheless, and like those gone before us, we will gather our pieces and rebuild. We will overcome the losses and celebrate the wins whenever they come. We will share stories of those gone before us and treasure the lessons learnt from their very existence. What a blessing it has been to have shared life with the generations gone before us. The wisdom they have given is forever treasured. They may not have been perfect, but they did the best they could with their normal but broken foundation that their ancestors left them with. And we will do the same.
The resilience of mankind is a force to be reckoned with. Don’t believe me, just ask 2020.