What the life of St. Maximus can teach us

I just finished reading the life of St. Maximus the Confessor last night and the thought struck me that Christian families can learn a lesson from the choices he made in dealing with the the heresy of monothelitism (Christ having two natures, but one will). At the time the heresy had the support of the Emperor as well as the Patriarch of Constantinople and much of the East. Rome denied the heresy publicly and as a result Pope Martin was kidnapped, interrogated, and later died of forced starvation.

You can easily ask yourself how this is applicable to parents - how is a seventy year-old monk and former government functionary at odds with an emperor relatable? For convert families especially it can be difficult to defend practices to family and friends (fasting, conservative dress, icons, prayer practices, etc.). St. Maximus chose to defend Orthodoxy even though it cost him his freedom, his tongue (cut out), and a hand (cut off). Being permissive would seem to gain you some tranquility with friends or the ability to blend in, but it doesn't have a long term gain. You end up being apologetic for your beliefs more than proud of them. Worse, you teach your children to do the same.

It is good to remember the trials St. Maximus went through when it would have been far easier to have gone along and mutely disagreed, but he refused to do so and in so spurning their heretical beliefs he gave heart to other believers who held out and eventually overcame the monothelites in the 8^th century.