At Capstone, there are seven virtues we believe embody what it means to be a Golden Gryphon (the “Gryphon Weapons”). In this article, I want to offer an example from the historical church that illustrates the fourth virtue: fortitude. Fortitude means that we Golden Gryphons do hard things, even when they are frightening.
Rewind with me to the year 391 AD, when a young monk named Telemachus journeyed to Rome for a pious Christmas holiday. In the same year, the Romans won a tremendous victory against the Goths. In typical Roman style, they held parades, feasts, and parties. But that’s not all. In similarly Roman style, they filled the Colosseum with dying men and cheering crowds.
As the contestants marched onto the sandy field, Telemachus sat in the stands, aghast. How, in a supposedly “Christian” empire under a “Christian” emperor, could men slaughter men for entertainment? Without hesitating, Telemachus leapt from the stands and began to tug apart two young men engaged in combat. What exactly happened next varies by source, but it seems to have gone something like this: The two gladiators turned on Telemachus in rage and stabbed him repeatedly. The crowd, angered by his actions, began to pelt him with stones. His lifeless body was then fed to the famished lions.
The End.
Of Telemachus, that is—but not of his story! You see, Telemachus’ actions so moved the emperor that he abolished forever the gladiatorial games. Telemachus could have easily turned a blind eye or done the math and realized that, by all human reckoning, he was helpless to impact any change. But instead, he faced an impossible task, and he did all he could. And astonishingly, God used his faithful fortitude to change the world.
Our students need this kind of Telemachian fortitude. They need this fortitude to tackle their daily assignments and classes. They need this fortitude to make their houses into communities that upbuild in virtue and wisdom. Will they have the fortitude to look a peer in the eyes and, with love and reverence, call them out for their wayward behavior? Now that’s scary! What if it doesn’t work? What if I’m teased, hated, mocked? Or stoned and fed to (hopefully metaphorical) lions? Our students need fortitude to live well in a fallen world and to stand against a culture that loves money, fame, self-image, and self-expression over the glory of their creator. Our students need fortitude to fight for what is right, knowing that, though they may “fail,” our good and sovereign God is fully capable of achieving through them what they never could alone. Let us hope, let us labor, and let us earnestly pray that our students will have the fortitude to be Golden Gryphons when it counts!