We look back on the Crusades as a low point in the history of the church (though historians tell a much more complex story than that of popular imagination). Legend has it that before going into battle, the Knights Templar were baptized, but they would hold their swords above their heads as they went under the water. As if to say, “Jesus, you can have all of me except this. Not my violence. Not my quest for glory.” Legend or history, the imagery is piercing. We all do this. We might not hold up a sword; for us it could be a debit card, a relationship, a sexual ethic, a wound, an entertainment
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