The God factor in resilience

What is the stuff of resilience and how do we develop and cultivate it? What enables some to rise above adversity and to survive the blows of outrageous fortune, to endure crisis and rebound from tragedy? Resilient people are a checkerboard of scars. They are battle weary, but describe themselves as “better people.” They speak in terms of hope and belief. Research indicates several key factors to explain this dogged determination to endure.

Studies in areas of family strengths, conjoined twins, ageing and resilience itself, repeatedly uncover the “God factor”. Participants cite God as a major component in their ability to survive crisis and tragedy. Can this be adequately explained as nothing more than a social construction or a culturally mediated meaning lens to make sense of life?
This paper explores some of the resilience research and the implications of these remarkable findings.