Hier stehe ich

Martin Luther’s alleged “Here I Stand” declaration at the Diet at Worms. The picture is one panel from the 19th c. Japanese printmaker Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s hexaptych “The Kusunoki’s Last Stand at Shijonawate.” In 1348, the remnants of the Kusunoki clan fought gallently to the bitter end knowing they faced certain defeat and death. If pagans can do this for temporal emperors, ought we be prepared to give more for our divine Lord? I chose this image because I was trained in this weapon, the naginata (glaive), for more than a decade in the Jikishinkage Ryu.

This replaces the image previously posted on November 29, 2009 at 3:47pm.