More than a little amazing grace

There are few moments in life that better highlight the unconquerable human spirit than the moment when hearts and hands turn to the task of rebuilding. Although life is basically good, disasters happen most of them minor, but some so devastating that we wonder how we will ever move forward and rebuild. And yet somehow we do. We have done it in the past, we are doing it now, and we will keep doing it in the future. If it's true that to err is human, then it's just as human to muster our strength, pick ourselves up, and carry on. 

Perhaps this explains why we love a comeback story and cheer for the underdog because at one time or another, we're all underdogs, and we all have comebacks to make. Every life needs rebuilding of some kind. It may take longer than we'd like, and the finished product may look quite different from what we expected. The important thing is that we are never satisfied with rubble that we always do what we can to rebuild.

Not long ago, a bomb exploded in a crowded airport. Among the many who were injured was a man who had left his home to serve as a missionary for his church. The injuries were so severe that doctors placed him in a medically induced coma. It seemed he had lost so much, but there was one thing he never lost—the will to rebuild his life. "Fear won't stop me," he says. "I'm going to live my life, and I'm going to teach my children and grandchildren that we put our trust in God." In many ways, he is stronger today than he ever was before.

That is because, as Gandhi said: "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an invincible will."  Indeed, the surest way to find out how strong we are is to stand up when we have been knocked down, to rebuild our lives when all appears hopeless. 

Whether it's a broken body, a strained relationship, a troubled neighborhood, or even a nation facing tragedy, rebuilding takes time and more than a little amazing grace. But we will rebuild, things will get better, and life will go on in new and unexpected ways.

Lloyd D. Newell