“Those who walk alone”.

Hebrews 11:9 (ESV)
“By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob fellow heirs of the same promise”.

I found myself at a particular event recently. A gathering if you will, where believers and non-believers engaged in mutual celebration. I could not help but notice the marked difference between the two camps; there was no hostility, no contention, just observed behaviors of those who stand apart, those who stand alone.

As followers of Christ, in many respects we are continually standing alone, always on the outskirts. It’s weariness sometimes, taking all ones endurance to exist in that environment. We are stuck in this in-between place. We cannot go back to the state of being of the world, yet we are in this world; aliens in a culture not our own. And the very culture we stand apart from (even if that culture was once ours) we can no longer understand.

We are those who dwell often alone, misunderstood, marginalized and persecuted. Like Abraham we persevere pressing onward toward the promise; content for a time to dwell in our respective tents with fellow heirs.

Luther.  

“New passages and Old haunts”.

I was invited to a “Rite-of-passage” ceremony recently. As I entered the hosts home I was greeted by numerous men; men from a myriad of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Here we were, all gathered for a singular purpose; to welcome a particular male into the brotherhood of men. This event was setup by the father of the young man in question. And I counted myself privileged to attend.


What stood out to me in this experience was the witness of relationship between father and son. For a father to make the effort of gathering key men (as it related to his son’s life) for the purpose of affirming his transition into manhood was telling. And as the night progressed and the ceremony finally drew to a close; predictably my thoughts drifted to my relationship with my own father, or better to say my lack of relationship.


It was several years ago that the strained relationship with my father reached a breaking point. I remember the day well; his final words of rebuke, his assurances that others who were not sons would prove to be better son’s to him than I had been, those words stinging my heart. On that day, I made my way once again into a fatherless state; vowing to never return to such a place of vulnerability.


It is curious how a beautiful event can lead to thoughts of injustice; injustice regarding my father’s actions on that day so long ago. Still, after a life time of enduring the message that I’m not good enough, that I haven’t lived up to the standard set before me and my relational responses to my father from that vantage point; to have the relationship terminated so abruptly is a hard pill to swallow.


I want to rage, to vehemently defend myself against these wounds. Yet I am well aware of my role in contributing to the dysfunction. But in spite of all this hope remains.


Psalms 25:16-18 (ESV)
16 “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. 18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins”.



This scripture reminds me that I need to rely upon one greater than myself for healing. Still holding onto the hope that one day my father and I will stand side by side - proudly, warriors with swords finally at rest, upon the shores of heaven.

Luther.

Bushcraft: “Budget knife”.

Here is a quick write-up (not necessarily a tutorial) of how I made an inexpensive knife. This is by no means an original idea, just my take on the concept. – hope you enjoy.
Here I’ve collected some basic materials for the job.

• Scrap pieces of leather.
  
• 3/16” poplar dowel rod (leftover from another project).
  
• Some leather cordage for the lanyard (leftover from another project).
  * You may use whatever is on hand.
  
• An unknown species of hardwood that was used for an old deer drag rope handle.
  
• 2 bone buttons (I decided not to use these as the project progressed).
  
• A 7” reciprocating blade (cost: approx. $3.00).
  

Blade:
First I marked out the basic blade shape (somewhat difficult to see). I used a small bench grinder to shape the blade, and hand files to rough in the cutting edge. Be careful here that you don’t overheat it and ruin any temper the blade may have. Keep some water for cooling the blade nearby. As a general rule if the blade is too hot to hold your affecting the temper.

I also center punched my dowel hole locations; location is based on your preferred handle size.

Also the tail was rounded as that will be exposed.

Handle:
I had cut my hardwood scales a little too thin so I added some plywood veneer to the backside to increase thickness. I used 30min epoxy and clamped everything up to cure.
Note: in the photo, you can see the blade after being sanded and dowel holes drilled out. Also the blade edge has been hand filed.

My camera died here so I wasn't able to take pictures of the handle assembly. But the process is as follows.

• Glue up scales (after trimming to rough / basic shape).
  
• Drill dowel holes in scales using blade as a template.
  
• Glue scales, blade and dowels together – clamp till cured.
  
• Once dry, using a small coping saw trim as close to blade body as possible than sand remainder of handle to final shape.
  
• Finish sand and coat with polyurethane or varnish.
  

Sheath:
I started with 2 pieces of “tomato stake” cut approx. to 8”.

Next, I carefully scored two parallel lines using a coping saw. Basically I set the saw edge on the face of the stake and slowly dragged it across until you have a line about 1/16” deep. The next step was to take a chisel (a 1” was the smallest size I had) and carefully notch out the material between the score lines. The thickness of the knife blade will determine the cut depth.

Note: go slow! The part in this picture was my second attempt as I went way too deep on my first try.

Here you can see the two pieces nested together to create the blade pocket. Sand accordingly to accomplish a proper fit. You want the blade to fit snugly but not bind.

In this photo we have the glue up of both pieces. I used the same epoxy as on the scales. After it dries add any creative elements or shaping then stain and varnish.

P.S. – The cell phone pics of the leather work turned out horribly! I should have checked the settings first. I really need to get a handle on my camera situation.
The leather work is as follows:

• Hand sew a belt loop to the large piece that wraps around the sheath.
  
• Pre-sew the sheath wrap, leaving the stitching excessively loose (creating a sleeve).
  
• Place the sheath in the leather sleeve and soak the assembly in extremely hot water (NOT boiling) for a few minutes.
  
• Carefully begin to pull stitching / lacing tight, working your way down. This will cause the leather to gently stretch around the sheath.
  
• Once the leather dries it will “shrink” and you won’t be able to separate them without using inappropriate force.
  

I added a small piece of leather cord (soaked in mineral oil) and a wooden bead (stolen from my daughter) for a blade keeper.

Conclusion:
I think this turned out really well given the materials used. And my cost was right around $3.00 (depending on the materials you have to purchase your cost may differ). As for performance – it will take a keen edge but it does dull rather quickly; but a few passes across one of those cheap “V” sharpeners brings the edge back, so it’s not a big problem.

I initially made this for outdoor / bushcraft use and it does “ok”. It can skin a squirrel decently if kept sharp. And light cutting tasks are easy to execute. Surprisingly I had difficulty in making feather sticks (my thicker bladed knives performed better) I’m not sure if it’s the blade or my skill level? It does work wonders for food prep though. And as a result has become my go to kitchen knife.

All in all this was a neat little project given the low cost. If you've never attempted to make a knife, this would be a great project to cut your teeth on. I hope you enjoyed this write-up; and if you have questions, ask away.

Luther.

“Immortal legacy”

“Man sees a measure of his immortality in the children of his sons”.

Recently I've been thinking about the legacy I will leave for those who come behind me. A legacy in my opinion is a type of immortality; it is a part of ourselves that lives on throughout the generations. If that is so, the question becomes; if I could live forever what would my life look like? And if my immortality is manifested in my sons, sons; would one find that life pleasing or offensive before God?

As the legacy I leave with my children will impact their spiritual future, the gravity of how I live today becomes apparent. This is the burden of a father and yet it is a profound privilege – to leave something lasting, to impart an aspect of his life to all the generations that will follow him.

What we leave behind us is the future of those that would follow in our path. Whether good or evil, we live on in the steps of our offspring which truly makes us immortal indeed!

Luther.