Article May 25, 1992 Issue

Bouncing back...

When a crisis occurs, we don't have to feel overwhelmed. We can, with God's guidance and love, rise up and go forward.

Isabel F. Bates

While walking in the north woods of Wisconsin, where a magnificent stand of virgin pine had been destroyed by fire, I suggested to the friend (a naturalist) who was walking with me, "Let's count the number of new trees sprouting up in a twelve-inch square of ground." So we knelt down and started counting the tiny shoots that were just breaking through the bare soil. There were twenty-four of them. "Isn't this wonderful!" I exclaimed. "All these trees springing up!" "That isn't the wonderful thing," he answered thoughtfully. "The wonderful thing is the principle of growth," he added, referring to the natural law underlying this growth.

The forest was bouncing back from the devastation. And it was doing so in response to this law, the natural bursting-forth of energy inherent in life itself.

When you and I are facing devastating experiences—the loss of a home, dear ones, health, a job—what can help us bounce back and resume our activities with a renewed sense of dominion and usefulness?

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