Open sights (a.k.a. iron sights) are an older and less myopic way of aiming a gun barrel. Open sights date all the way back to the 1450s, so there is a lot of variability here. You line up the singlar tip on the front of the barrel between the notched rear sights, usually placed near the “action,” at the end of the barrel. This simple part of the gun is essential to the work - essential to working a gun properly and essential to our work of disarming hearts. You can wear this Talisman or keep it close to remind you, and others, of what you are aiming for in your life.  

We get a lot of these notched rear sights off of traditional style hunting rifles, from bigger boar 30-30s down to .22s. This piece is most often wedged into the barrel. We punch it out, soften it to a bright orange in the forge, open it up and go with the inspiration that comes in the moment. Sometimes we just unfold it, and it can look like a Tau cross. Sometimes we forge on it, or put a scroll on one end or the other, give it a twist and dent it with our maker's mark.  

This talisman is inspired by the theology and ethics of Dr. Martin Luther King. He approached theology and ethics from a teleological perspective; he taught ”the ends don’t justify the means,” and insisted that “the ends dictate the means”.  King's pilgrimage to nonviolence came in large part because of what he saw as the demands of Christian love, and he paid love's ultimate price. It’s fitting that this tightly wedged iron sight, softened and transformed by the heat of the forge, is made in honor of Dr. King.  As a teleologist, he started with the end in mind. Like the notched open sights on the end of a gun barrel, he was always close to the heat of the action. He peered down the long arc of the universe and aimed his life toward God & justice and in so doing inspired generations of people around the world to set their sights in the same peaceful direction.

I’m feeling compelled to share my gratitude for Peter Paris who mentored me as a young person. He drew me deeper into Dr. King's writing and introduced me to James Cone, Malcom X, James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichel and so many more. His lectures were riveting, and he knew how to entice folks to go a little deeper into the radical waters of Jesus’s teaching. I remember that twinkle in his eye, quick smile and ability to laugh amid deep discussions of hard things. But most of all I remember his kindness and understanding when my father died. It was my last semester, and I struggled mightily to write my thesis, and he spent a generous amount of time working with me as my advisor.