Facilitating Paradox

Word of the Day

I’ve started reading the first of my textbooks for the semester, An Introduction to Hinduism, by Gavin Flood, and came across a word at first I thought was a typo. It looked like “anomaly” with a letter or two missing. It was not a typo, and here’s what I learned after looking it up:

Anomy
Main Entry: an•o•mie
Variant(s): also an•o•my /'a-n&-mE/
Function: noun
Etymology: French anomie, from Middle French, from Greek anomia lawlessness, from anomos lawless, from a- + nomos law, from nemein to distribute -- more at NIMBLE
: social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values; also : personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals
- ano•mic /&-'nä-mik, -'nO-/ adjective

I’m a bit surprised I haven’t come across this word before. (Perhaps I have and simply took it for “anomaly” without realizing my mistake.) I can certainly relate to it both personally and professionally. Aren’t we ministers to be about helping people find purpose, ideals and meaning in their lives? Does that make us anomy-busters? On the other hand, can’t conservative fundamentalists consider themselves anomy-busters for trying to cling to past standards and values?

This is a marvelously packed little word, with family ties to lawlessness, distribution and nimbleness. One must be nimble to handle breakdowns of standards and values, what to speak of the personal affects of a lack of purpose in one’s own life. One must distribute oneself wisely in such circumstances, what the old Chinese curse refers to as “interesting times.” The question is whether anomy is the demise of old standards, values, purpose or ideals, the labor pains of new ones, or both.