Thursday, September 23, 2004
Knight, Death and the devil
One thing I aim to do with this blog is to have it reflect my Christian worldview while still making it accessable to non-christians.
Take this Albrecht Dürer print for example. I had this on my wall in my bohemian days before I returned to the fold. I think what I liked about it was that it reminded me of Eschenbach's Parzival. At the time, like Parzival, I was a prodigal son. The print, like my few other worldly possessions, was lost in the shipwreck of my young adulthood. According to conventional art history, it's an allegory of the ideal of a Christian warrior. I think that it probably resonates on many levels, and I'm aware of interpretations that claim it conveys all manner of esoteric truths, from the secrets of the Knights Templar to Kabbalism. But I can also see our knight in the service of a cause that includes Christianity, but can also include like-minded allies. This is an alliance I believe I've seen forming in this country, and if I had to catagorize it, it would be in terms of Judeo-Christian values. It's a culture (or most realistically, a counterculture) that honors and defends the ethical groundwork, the real "heavy lifting" in terms of the advancement of civilzation acheived by Judaism, and it can also include the "ethical" agnostic and atheist (Tammy Bruce and Steve den Beste come to mind) who share the values if not the belief systems.
The knight can represent any of us. Some enemies, because we aren't perfect, will always try to come alongside us. And there may be some, like Death, that are destined to win in the end. But though he is constantly aware of them, the knight presses on.
papijoe 10:32 AM
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