Two of Everything in Life: Resilience and Courage (Noah 5774)

Carved wood, hand-painted Noah's Ark circa 1890

There are two kinds of everything in life.  That theme echoes throughout the Torah portion this week that opens with the story of Noah and the flood.  Not only does Noah gather at least two of every living creature but also he is placed poignantly in the middle of light and darkness, good and evil, life and death.  

The Sages estimate that Noah labored for 120 years from the planting of trees to fashioning the ark, from the collecting what was needed to sustain those on the ark to collecting the animals who survived there. It had to be both difficult and exhilarating.   Surely there were setbacks and frustrations alongside moments of accomplishment and celebration.  

There are two kinds of everything in life.  When we invest in relationships sometimes things go just as we hope but other times the process is difficult or the outcome disappointing.  When we pursue goals sometimes we fulfill them energetically and completely but other times we grow frustrated and want to withdraw.  

The Lakota storyteller, Joseph M Marshall III, writes in “Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance” about a grandfather’s gentle lessons to a grandson enduring difficult times.  Marshall writes, “Grandfather says this, ‘In life there is sadness as well as joy, losing as well as winning, falling as well as standing, hunger as well as plenty, badness as well as goodness. I do not say this to make you despair, but to teach you reality. Life is a journey sometimes walked in light, sometimes in shadow.’”

Marshall’s character continues, “Grandfather says this, ‘Life can give you strength. Strength can come from facing the storms of life, from knowing loss, feeling sadness and heartache, from falling into the depths of grief. You must stand up in the storm. You must face the wind and the cold and the darkness. When the storm blows hard you must stand firm, for it is not trying to knock you down, it is really trying to teach you to be strong.’”

This echoes the framework of “grit” developed by Angela Duckworth it is that type of resilience and courage that leads individuals to imagine their goals are feasible.  She writes, “optimists are grittier than pessimists. . . . Separate research on optimism and growth mindset incontrovertibly demonstrate that the belief that change is possible leads to sustained effort and the belief that change is not [possible] leads to the opposite. Link to Duckworth on Whether Perseverance Can Be Taught

Noah spent 120 years preparing and then 40 days and nights standing up to the storm.  He endured with resilience and courage.  “Resilience and courage” is the Torah’s term for fearing the worst and hoping for the best as in the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7-8.  These traits are what made it possible for Noah to find hope in hours of darkness, to find strength when probably he was about to give up.  

There are two kinds of everything in life. May we have the wisdom to learn resilience through each other and the strength to courageously thrive in times of triumph and challenge.