Knights in Dinged Armor

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Many of the young women I meet are waiting for their knight in shining armor to come rescue them. Aside from the fact that they don't realize we aren't looking for a damsel in distress, they ignore what it means that a knight has shining armor. Having lived several years abroad in Europe, I know that most of the armor is not shiny and most of it is not new. Rather than looking for a knight in shining armor, they should be looking for one in dinged armor. I don't mean rusted or armor for which they have not cared, but the dings indicate that it is a knight worthy of a partner. Shining armor has never been tried.

Young women think that shining armor indicates good potential for family life. Ironically, they go after guys with defined abdominal muscles or large pecks or large wallets without recognizing what virtues lead to those. You see, real workouts mean that men get sweaty and sticky and grimy. Most men earn wages by the sweat of their brow too, and some of the wealthiest folks come home at night covered in grime and stinking to high heaven. Yet, the women persist in the notion that presentation indicates substance when sometimes these men achieved the presentation through starvation, genetics or inheritance rather than on merit. When I hike, sometimes people are surprised that I am not exhausted at the end. I weigh in at 198lbs, but most people don't think I'm that heavy because when we finish I'm not exhausted. I still remember taking a skinny young lad to the top of Turtlehead peak one day because he said he could do strenuous hikes. I picked him up at 0600, drove to the park, hiked with him, and drove him back to the other end of town. He slept in my car and was so deep that I had to prod him awake when we got back, and then I still had to drive to my own house in a manual transmission. Abdominals, waist lines, and bank balances do not predict an ability to hike the Grand Canyon, fix a car, pay bills, or respect a woman.

Most members of society venerate the knight in shining armor as a symbol. I think sometimes we think that if the knights all look shiny that everything is well. However, when the armor is shiny, that means he spends his time courting favor and making himself look good rather than working. The soldiers I know who are out doing the work do not have boots polished enough so you can do your makeup in the reflection. They are worn and rugged from constant marching. A decorative and shiny sword is not usually the one used for combat. If a knight has a sword that is perfect and straight or encrusted with jewels, it is decorative only or indicates that he never drew it in defense of right. The shiny armor evinces presentation over principles. The real knights are out their on horse, in combat, exposed to the weather, and their armor will look weathered and beaten and used because they are the knights who live like knights.

Most of all, God knows which knights are His. When we return to His presence, the rest of His angels will see the nicks in the swords and dents in the shields and know that another warrior went forth with faith, served with valor, and returned with honor. There are courtier knights, and then there are the knights on whom the King calls when there is work to be done. Most of God's best servants were dirty and beaten when they returned home. Moses wandered in Sinai for 40 years; Steven was stoned to death; Thomas More was beheaded for being true. The knights who make good husbands are the ones who leave the safety of the citadel and go protect the people. The condition of armor in the case of an active knight evinces commitment and activity. Being a real knight means having to act like one.

I know that dinged armor isn't attractive. I would not probably purchase a used breastplate any more than I would rely on a 300 year old Long Land Brown Bess when hunting. However, for the knight who wears it, he knows that he can rely on it, because it has already protected him. For the woman that knight courts, it proves that she can rely on him because his mettle has rendered it tested. Dinged armor has been weighed and measured and found reliable. That is a man who is worth his mettle.