Last week, Ghada Abdulfattah evacuated her home. Our correspondent in Gaza has evacuated before, but she’s always been able to move between family homes. This week, she’s experiencing more acutely what so many Palestinians in Gaza have known – placelessness, helplessness, and the hope that something, anything will bring this war to an end.

Her family has atomized to the different corners of Gaza, seeking the promise of safety that shrinks by the day. Now living in a relative’s home – still in an “unsafe” zone – Ghada is seeking a room or a tent to live in.

But there’s nothing left to share. No homes. No tents. People are now using aid blankets as shelter. And I wonder: When is hope exhausted? When are our stores of resilience drained? For The Christian Science Monitor, this is a profound question. We were founded on the principle that spirituality makes these qualities inexhaustible. And yet the situation in Gaza has left Ghada and other innocent civilians in a situation beyond imagination.

Ghada once longed for a cease-fire to rebuild, reconnect, and refresh her spirit. Now she only wishes for one day of mental calm, in which no bombs fall.