Our View: Recognizing Resilience

We hear a lot about resilience these days. Most often the reference is to the challenge of climate change; how do we persevere in the face of such intractable problems as sea level rise, more powerful and frequent storms, and continued insistence on developing the shoreline? Can we develop solutions that preserve our quality of life while living with the uncertainty posed by environmental changes over which we have little control? That’s being resilient.

 At this time of year, it seems appropriate to also celebrate other forms of resilience. One local institution we can shine a light on is our churches. This week’s issue includes a story about the 200th anniversary of the Brewster Baptist Church, which isn’t even the oldest organized church in our area. Think of how resilient such an institution needs to be to remain a vital force in the community for two centuries. The same can be said about our local towns, which have been organized as municipalities even longer. Looking back, we see a long tradition of local leaders fostering the resilience of their towns to maintain order and help support citizens. Add to that our local schools, which persevere in their important mission of educating young citizens despite rising costs and declining enrollment. It takes a lot of resilience to hold an institution together when your every move is under a microscope.

 Our region’s commercial fishermen also embody resilience, as do the first responders we depend on to be there in an emergency. Road crews, service workers, health aides, hospitality staff; they’re all there when we need them, which is a special kind of resilience. 

As we prepare to spend the holidays with loved ones, keep in mind the resilience of our neighbors and our communities, as well as family members who may have faced special challenges during the past year. Gratitude and resilience go hand in hand.