A Timeless Knife Design

You don't doodle on the Mona Lisa to improve it, and you don't paint flames on a Rolls Royce to make it cooler. A classics is a classic, and I hope it will encourage you to see a design that works as well now as it did before the middle of last century.

The London Daily Star carries this article: Soldier stabbed ISIS terrorist to death with WW2 fighting knife in Afghan ambush

A British special forces member found himself in hand-to-hand combat with two ISIS militants. He used his Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife to kill one, and the other took off running.

A Near Tragedy of Errors.

"A Cautionary Tale for CCW Permit Carriers" describes an actual event in which an armed citizen could well have killed a plainclothes officer by mistake or been killed by a uniformed officer who arrived on the scene. 

Some good lessons here.

Warning of a Coming Punch

The stranger approaches and engages his mark in conversation. Then, almost without warning he coldcocks his victim and begins to rifle his pockets. The key to avoiding this scenario lies in that little word almost.

Most people cannot change from conversation to attack mode without an accompanying change in tone of voice. Vladimir Vasiliev (Systema) has constructed a drill base on this.

"Follow the Gleam" -- A Song of Christendom

"Follow the Gleam" is essentially a song of Christendom. It acknowledges the King and challenges the listener to extend His rule over all the world.

My mother used to sing "Follow the Gleam", and I found great appeal in the combination of knightly ideals with a lilting melody. Although it originated in a song writing contest of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), I think it reflects the character and mission of Christian manhood.

According to Kihm Winship, the inspiration for the song came from Arthurian legend. Specifically, it originated from . . .

Tennyson’s 1889 poem, “Merlin and the Gleam,” about the quest for the Holy Grail, which ends:

“O young Mariner,
Down to the haven,
Call your companions,
Launch your vessel,
And crowd your canvas,
And, ere it vanishes
Over the margin,
After it, follow it,
Follow The Gleam.” (Read, Seen Heard)

In later life, the lyricist Helen Hill Miller wanted to cut all ties with the song, presumably because she had abandoned the faith of her youth. By way of contrast, composer Sallie Douglas Hume regarded her contribution of the melody as a high point in her life. (To hear the melody, CLICK HERE)

Here are the lyrics:

To knights in the days of old,
Keeping watch on the mountain height,
Came a vision of Holy Grail
And a voice through the waiting night.

“Follow, follow, follow the Gleam,
Banners unfurled o’er all the world;
Follow, follow, follow the Gleam
Of the chalice that is the Grail.

“And we who would serve the King,
And loyally Him obey,
In the consecrate silence know,
That the challenge still holds today:

“Follow, follow, follow the Gleam,
Standards of worth o’er all the earth,
Follow, follow, follow the Gleam,
Of the Light that shall bring the dawn

Armed Volunteers Provide Church Security

"There's no scripture that shows me that we need to keep weapons out of the church. There is scripture that says we are supposed to protect the flock.” (Pastor Frank Pomeroy, quoted in article linked below)

Bless those who shoulder the responsibility.

Guns and God: Growing number of churches want armed security