This essay argues that the true meaning of prayer is not passive hope or selective gratitude, but alignment with the realities that sustain life. Reflecting on the Caribbean’s experiences with Hurricanes Irma (2017) and Melissa (2025), it challenges the idea that survival is a personal blessing and instead examines the social, ecological, and infrastructural patterns that determine vulnerability and resilience. Drawing from John McMurtry’s Life-Ground ethical framework and Jacque Fresco’s resource-based architectural and social design principles, the essay presents resilience not as the ability to rebuild what has been destroyed, but as the capacity to redesign society in coherence with ecological processes and community interdependence. It proposes a shift from reactive disaster recovery to proactive, regenerative community systems rooted in relational belonging, ecological restoration, and resilient design. Prayer in this context becomes a commitment to move our feet — to act together to protect the conditions of life itself.
