How do you combine knightly ideals with Christianity and contemporary livability?
Quests and Camelot are all very nice, but they fail the Screwtape Letters test of virtue and practice. It's just unlikely a modern guy could ride a horse around, seeking fair maidens to deliver from dragons. Of such tasks are Don Quixotes made.
There's more to chivalry than the coolness of it. It seems to me that knighthood requires serious, well, manliness. True manliness requires a deep, persistent love of God in the hidden person of the heart, and that's hard. But the cool stuff, the "fruit," is easy to see. It's fun to go haring off after the Grail. It's very satisfying to chop off a giant's head. That's the part that has caught modern people's imaginations so they design websites and write novels. I'm tired of modern medieval wannabes. They want the fun of chivalry without the substance.
It's idealistic, yes: but this ideal can be realized, through sinful flesh and the power of the Spirit. I want men about me, men who have to live in the real world, and deal with "enlightened" bossy females and schoolwork and jobs and broken-down cars. Mere fantasy won't cut it.
I think we should reinstate knighthood.
Thanks for the encouragement. Long live godly chivalry!
ReplyDeleteI agree, the real test of manhood is how a guy treats his wife through the rough times of life. It is not all flowers, chocolate, and dates. Even a prince has affairs of state to deal with.
Is loving through the mundane times of life impossible? No.
It is possible. It just means sacrificing one's own desires for her. Striving to treat her as Christ treats the Church. Anything else is tilting at windmills.