Contra Mundum Vision at BitterSweet Life: “My tendency to invert common “life-usage,” for want of a better phrase, makes me wonder if there isn’t a redemptive use for the human trait we usually label “difficult” or “stubborn” and repress. Why not channel latent defiance into a really useful pastime: pitting oneself “against the world” (contra mundum) and turning it on its head? This isn’t just against-the-graininess. Rather, this conscious flaunting of appearances reaches toward something better. Not merely different, not merely counter-cultural, but better. True. This isn’t rebellion for fashion’s sake, but for truth’s.”
How is it that God is able to turn evil into good? Can all suffering and even sin be redeemed? Can we even begin to see the world through God’s eyes to some extent and use the lemons, not to make lemonade, but rather to make something totally new and different and even better?
George Grant says much the same thing in a post at King’s Meadow about St. Patrick. (I can’t link to the specific post; it’s dated 2.10.05) “We know that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to “those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness” (Matthew 5:10) and that great “blessings” and “rewards” eventually await those who have been “insulted,” “slandered,” and “sore vexed” who nevertheless persevere in their high callings (Matthew 5:12-13). We know that often it is in “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness, and hunger” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5) that our real mettle is proven. Nevertheless, we often forget that these things are not simply to be endured. They actually frame our greatest calling. They lay the foundations for our most effective ministries. It is when, like Patrick, we come to love God’s enemies and ours that we are set free for great effectiveness.”