Sir Knight of the Splendid Way

Sir Knight of the Splendid Way is the story of Sir Constant, a chivalric knight of the Middle Ages. It follows his adventures and life-lessons as he travels the “ Splendid Way, ” a road fraught with danger and challenges that will take him to The Great City of the Great King. Each of the persons he meets along the way has a role as teacher of some lesson in his life, and in many cases individuals are not who or what they seem. The story is an allegory for the journey we all must take through life on our own quest for the Kingdom of God , and The Splendid Way is a metaphor for the divine path we all must take to get there.

Along the way, Constant meets a humble carpenter, who despite his simplistic outward appearance possesses a grace that draws Constant to him. He vows to stay with the carpenter throughout his journey on The Splendid Way (the carpenter obviously being the story's metaphor for Christ) but at the first opportunity, Constant is taken in by the false beauty of a palace owned by one called Sir Joyous. He decides to find comfort and rest in the palace. When Constant asks his fellow traveler, the carpenter, to join him in resting at Sir Joyous' palace, the carpenter replies, “The welcome is for thee only. Me they have not asked.”

Constant, who only moments before had vowed to himself that he would travel The Splendid Way with this carpenter, is lulled by the beauty and graciousness of the palace and Sir Joyous' squires. He abandons the carpenter.

Once inside the palace, all is not as it seems. Constant soon realizes this, and must fight his way out so that he may rejoin the carpenter and make his trip along The Splendid Way to the Great kingdom.

When he emerges from the palace, somewhat worse for the wear, Constant soon realizes that it was not merely as simple as rejoining the carpenter. He must seek him out, and along the way he will have many challenges that will try to sway him from his chosen path.

Throughout the story, Sir Constant battles many a foe in his quest for The Great City of the King. One of the stories in particular resonated with me, and that was “The Lost Sir Ardent.”

On his journey, Constant comes upon a beautiful city with silver gates with a proclamation reading, “For the pilgrim of The Splendid Way there is rest and peace in this city, The City of Good Intent.”

But again, all is not as it seems. The beautiful gates are unguarded, and all the inhabitants within roam around with dreamy, far-off looks on their faces. The city is spotless and quiet, without any loud noises. All is peaceful.

Outside the gates to the city is a man whose job it is to rung a loud bell periodically to try and break these people from the reveries. When Constant speaks with the man, he finds out that his friend The Good Sir Ardent is inside the gates and has not been heard from in ages.

Constant decides to go in and help Ardent out of the city. He is accompanied by the bell ringer, who tells Constant to keep in his sights the “Vision of the Face,” the image that Constant has held true and good on all his journey. If he does not do this, he will fall prey to the spell of the city and become lost.

Once inside, Constant senses the eerie quiet of the place, and at one point looks out over a vista onto The Splendid Way . From this vantage point he can see the beautiful gates of the Great Kingdom . It is magnificent, and Constant is mesmerized.

His reverie is soon broken by his traveling companion, who reminds him that the only true vision is his own Vision of the Face. Constant calls this image to his mind and soon the magnificent mirage of The Great City disappears.

This passage in particular touched me because so much in our own life is peppered with false images. We often fail to keep our own true visions in sight and instead get caught up pursuing false dreams.

It reminded me that I must set a goal for myself that is true and on a course with Christ. I must keep this vision in sight and not be swayed by false promises of artificial palaces and riches. If I keep Christ by my side, I will not lose my way.

In the story, Constant is able to extricate his friend Ardent from The City of Good Intent rather easily. He just encourages him to remember his own true vision. Sadly, in real-life it is not always that easy. Flash and glitz can seem all too real to people who are longing for any image to help them escape the drudgery of their own journeys. We must all keep the lesson of Sir Ardent in mind. We can easily get trapped in a place like The City of Good Intent where the visions are deceptively real.

Truly, the road to hell is paved with Good Intentions.

In Christ,
It is written
By C________