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Saturday May 17,2008

The Defining Moment

Continued

While the terminology remains somewhat fluid, five traits have been identified as common to individuals who have resilient personalities: insightfulness, adaptability, responsibility, commitment, and connection. On these terms, we already know that the passengers aboard Flight 93 demonstrated incredible resilience. The question is whether, in this defining moment for the rest of us, we as a nation can be resilient as well.

The first element of resilience--insight--may be both the most important and the most difficult to achieve. Studies show that resilient individuals react to a situation based not on what they want to be true or what used to be true or what ought to be true, but on how things are. They are not impulsive, but have the ability to assess honestly their own capabilities and shortcomings, as well as to view accurately the larger context and their place in it. Second, based on these insights, resilient individuals are adaptable: they have the ability to respond to a dramatically different situation in creative and imaginative ways. Third, resilient individuals are responsible: they don't waste time placing blame or waiting to receive orders. They simply take charge. I can make a difference here, they say. It's up to me.

Fourth, resilient individuals are committed to engaging life fully. Their goal is not to make themselves invulnerable to the vicissitudes of life. Rather, they view change as normal and necessary, and as an opportunity for personal growth. Instead of breaking down or withdrawing from adversity, resilient individuals somehow rise to the challenge and often perform at their best. Finally, resilient individuals are connected: they have the ability to form strong and secure relationships. They communicate to others with openness and clarity, and they contribute to the lives of their family and community and receive back from them in kind.

In a nutshell, that's what it takes to be resilient. We must be insightful, adaptable, responsible, committed, and connected. If we demonstrate these qualities in the wake of September's horrors, we will not only endure, we will flourish. On most of these five counts, I'm optimistic. Americans have always been creative and imaginative when confronted with tough problems. We almost always step up and take charge, believing that we can find answers that will benefit us and those we care about. Our society is open and free, and the connective tissue of our national character is made of sturdy stuff indeed. Even given the challenges of ferreting out terrorists like Osama bin Laden in places like Afghanistan, I think we'll eventually find a way, in the words of our President, either to "bring him to justice or bring justice to him."

But the challenge we face is larger than Osama bin Laden and his global network of terrorists, which is why I believe this is a defining moment for our nation. It is true that evil men have done horrible things, and they must be brought to justice. But the question is whether that is all that's going on, and whether we have been so devastated and outraged by these brutal acts of terror that we have no energy or patience for further reflection and insight. Our resilience over time will be determined by the depth of our insight and the degree of honesty with which we evaluate who we are in the world and how others perceive us. Is it accurate, for example, to conflate our struggle against Osama bin Laden with the clash of civilization against nihilism, freedom against tyranny, democracy against totalitarianism, and good against evil?

Timothy George is dean of Beeson Divinity School and executive editor of Christianity Today, the leading magazine of evangelical Christianity. In other words, he is conservative but not fundamentalist. He recently wrote an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal in which he criticized Jerry Falwell on theological grounds for saying that the attack on America was God's judgment for harboring liberal views and lifestyles. Even though George opposes many of the same trends in our culture that Falwell does, he believes Falwell's response was completely wrong. "It is not 'them' (sinners) against 'us' (saints)," George said. "No, we are all in this together, and none of us is free from sin."