Athanasius Contra Mundum

I, for better or for worse, am a company man...I don't gossip about my employer or grumble about taxes. I posses a peculiar empathy with the system and those that run it, and for some reason, I find myself defending them often. I don't make waves and generally label those that do as "rebelious" :)

Now, I'm not exactly sure where such a good natured disposition towards the establishment came from...but it appears to be here to stay. So like with all unchangeble personality traits, my job is to capitalize on it's strengths and manage it's weaknesses.

Weaknesses such as a contentment with the status quo, and a propensity to 'overlook' all that is wrong in favor of maintaining my relationship with, and view of the establishment....This is where our friend Athanasius comes in.

For one hundred years he fought for orthodoxy and the divinity of Christ. Though, of course the doctrine is universally accepted now; it was almost completely lost in the 3rd century due to the Arian heresy. He was banished 3 times by two emperors and was repayed in this life only by suffering and persecution; he died not knowing if his fight was in vain...But he kept the faith.

It was said of him that, "while the world was going left, Athanasius went right". He saved the Church, almost singlehandedly, from paganism. After his death the Church slowly moved in the direction of the tide he had swelled and eventually gave him this title,

"Athanasius Contra Mundum"

It means "Athanasius, against the world". One writer put it this way, "He stood for truth, when the world stood against him."

Athanasius reminds me of another man. A man named Jesus. In the 2nd and 3rd chapter of  Mark's account, we find 5 consecutive accounts of Jesus ruffling people's feathers and challenging the status quo. Everything from healing on the Sabbath to hanging out with sinners. Now since I know that Mark's gospel isn't written chronologically, I'd say that Mark is trying to make a point about Jesus. He's trying to tell us that Jesus was a revolutionary; he's trying to tell us that Jesus was out to change the world, not blend in.

Jesus was after a life that mattered, and cared little about how that would make certain people feel. I am reminded by the lives of such men, that there are greater values to be had than normalcy; and, I am reminded that there is a better world to be had, and that that world lives on the other side of change and those who will make it.

So may we live "contra mundum" , and may the memory of our Fathers invite us out of our passivity and into the world of passionate abandon; mission at whatever the cost; and when the world is going left, I pray that God will give us the courage...to go right.