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#1
20 January 2007, 07:38 AM
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Sword Fight
I used to fence with swords when I was a teenager. My friend Graeme and I somehow managed to purchase two foils in a second hand shop. I think we originally bought them for a play we were doing, but we got so hooked on the swords that we started to fence outside in my backyard.
It was good fun, but we used no masks or protective clothing, so it was pretty painful at times. The foils were tipped, but if they scraped across open skin, it left a scar for days. We worked out a staged fight and used to entertain the local kids, as well as some bus drivers and their passengers who stopped to watch us for a couple of minutes each day. And then one day Graeme lunged at me and hit me in the face. He hit the corner of my right eye, which left a nasty red mark across my face. If he had hit me a quarter of an inch to the left, I would have lost the eye. It was a very painful and poignant moment. That night we put the swords away and decided to take up judo instead. Peter just wanted to protect Jesus when he lunged at Malchus with his sword. Out of all the disciples, he was the only one who defended Christ. It was an impetuous and impossible thing to do. The high priests posse had arrived with clubs and swords, so no matter what Peter did, Jesus would still be arrested. But Jesus didn’t rebuke the posse. He rebuked Peter, which must have seemed harsh at the time. It’s only later that you realize Jesus was protecting Peter from being taken. The Big Fisherman was not about to be caught in the Sanhedrin’s trap. By insisting that Christ had to drink the cup of wrath from God, Jesus was giving Peter a way out. He was diverting attention away from Peter and turning it towards Himself. It was an act of grace. It was a gift from God. Sometimes, as Christians, we get fired up and are full of zeal for the Lord. We want to protect Him from all the damage that the world still wants to cause Him, but in the process we act irrationally and put ourselves in danger. We forget that Christ has the power to make things right and that one glorious day, His justice will prevail. Prayer: Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to please You. Forgive us when our zeal blinds our reason and our forceful ways diminish our faith. Grant us the godly gift of discernment, to know when and how to say and do the right things, as opposed to doing them at the wrong time, in an un-Christian way. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen. 
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#2
20 January 2007, 07:39 AM
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Quote:
- snopes
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#4
20 January 2007, 07:18 PM
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Wow. The only connection between the first part and the second part was "swords". I was expecting some kind of lesson from the first part, about, I don't know, sometimes God hits us in the face with a sword, but at least he doesn't poke our eye out.
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#5
20 January 2007, 08:46 PM
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#6
20 January 2007, 08:55 PM
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Quote:
I'm trying my best, but that's all I got.
__________________
I got an idea... an idea so smart my head would explode if I even began to know what I was talking about. Avoid missing ball for high score ~ Pong
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#7
20 January 2007, 09:44 PM
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They're not even trying any more. Here's a story about swords, here's a random passage about Jesus (which co-incidentally feautures swords). Bah. They could at least have compared Jesus to a face mask or something...
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#8
21 January 2007, 11:21 AM
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 This was definitely worse then most I've seen.
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#9
21 January 2007, 02:53 PM
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Real nice. Insensitive moron.
__________________
C'mon now, who among us can say we don't have friends, close friends, trusted friends, whom we suspect would molest our children when our back is turned? I know I do! (Chloe)
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#10
22 January 2007, 05:46 PM
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See! You'll poke your eye out!
This must be a glurger's answer to A Christmas Story.
__________________
My dogs follow me wherever I go, if only out of a sense of curiosity. To date, I should point out that I have never flipped a burger in my life. Many a bird, yes, but never a burger. -- Canuckistan
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#11
23 January 2007, 05:40 AM
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Quote:
__________________
"But that crosses beyond mere pipe dream onto full on watermain fantasy." -Joe Bentley
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#12
24 January 2007, 08:04 PM
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#13
24 January 2007, 08:04 PM
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*snerk* *snort* *snerk*
Quote:
Good gravy, man! Warn us when you're going to write something like that!!! "The high priests posse"?! Sounds like a Christian rap group! Quote:
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#14
24 January 2007, 09:22 PM
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Graeme's lucky that his foil didn't snap off and pierce straight through his friend's skull or torso or neck.
There is a reason we wear masks and layer upon layer of material with specific safety ratings. FIE ratings require that the part of the mask on the throat, the bib, be rated to 1600 Newtons and the jacket and knickers (yes that's what they're called) rated to 800 Newtons. My mask is an FIE rated mask, and I believe the bib is kevlar. The rest of my uniform is not FIE and is a very heavy canvas material. It is rated to 350N IIRC. Additionally, foils (and epees and sabres) break. A lot. So much so that in order to be allowed to fence in a competitive bout one is required to have 3 functioning weapons at the beginning of the match because they stop working and/or snap all the darn time. I not only keep 3 working weapons in my bag all the time, I keep several pre-wired blades. It's so common I don't even think about it anymore unless I see people acting like idiots with weapons. The situation in the OP wasn't a meaningful experience. It was stupidity plain and simple.
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