Positive Loss and Tragic Memory: On the Preservation of Community.

Theologies of disaster have to recognize exceptional disasters in the framework of a general human exposure to vulnerability, while engaging in the formation of human and religious resilience. Resilience is about 'bouncing back and forward' in and through precautionary and self-adaptive responses to disasters. Drawing up a distinction between personal tragedies and socially shared disasters, the basic argument is that the reconnection of disrupted communities lies at the center of both tragedy and disaster. This article describes a post-secular theology of tragedy and disaster that mainly stays in a vernacular language, referring to basic assumptions of the gospel while refraining from using the heavier repertoires of Christian doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]