\nFor Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life. . . They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. <\/p>\n
They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring. They share their board with each other, but not their marriage bed. It is true that they are “in the flesh,” but they do not live “according to the flesh.” They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require. <\/p>\n
They love all men, and by all men are persecuted. They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life. They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance. They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defamed, and are vindicated. They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay due respect. When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment, they rejoice because they are brought to life. . . .<\/p>\n
To put it simply: What the soul is in the body, Christians are to the world.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The second century world of Diognetus is not far from today’s college campus. Orthodox Christian college students deserve compassion, understanding and support as they live their faith. They deserve to meet the Church in all its fullness so that they may struggle, question and grow. This struggle is nothing new and is the essence of staying connected to the Church.<\/p>\n
The challenge for each of us is whether not we will rise to responsibility of accompanying them on what is life’s most important journey –- a journey that can help students become the soul of the world and –like the Apostles before them — turn it upside-down.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Andrew Estocin is a lifelong Orthodox Christian and past participant in Orthodox Christian Fellowship. He received his theological degree from Fordham University. His articles have appeared in Touchstone, The Albuquerque Journal and Beliefnet.com He lives with his family in Albuquerque, New Mexico where they attend St. George Greek Orthodox Church.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Andrew F. Estocin Each September a Sunday is set aside for Orthodox Parishes across the country to focus on the lives of college students. As students settle on campus for another academic year, it is certain that they will encounter a world full of questions about the very meaning of life and how best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784],"tags":[1878,197],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13025"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13025"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13036,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13025\/revisions\/13036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}