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What’s the weekly mettle maker?
Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”
Mettle maker #439: Impairment Drills
Just like last week, I’m telling you to “keep it real” — that is, keep your training as close to the real thing as you can. The reality is that if you are faced with real violence (not social aggression, such as your drunk Uncle Phil at the family reunion or a rowdy knucklehead at the state fair) you are going to be commodity. A resource. An untapped well of pleasure or treasure that the attacker is going to tap in order to experience the fun of inflicting pain or improve his balance sheet with an influx of cash or assets.
Get this through your head: You are not going to get attacked unless your attacker(s) have an advantage — surprise, superior numbers, better weapons, or all three. If your head is up, your eyes are bright, and you’re moving through the world like a squared away rough ‘n’ tumbler, you are not going to get selected as a target.
Plan on starting the fight disoriented, outnumbered, injured, and in pain. You are going to get picked when you’re sad, exhausted, miserable, vulnerable, and/or distracted — when you’re in the pharmacy line to get your Z-pack because the flu is crushing you, when you’re taking a work call on your day off while shopping with your kids at the mall, or something like that.
Watch the video above and train accordingly.
And if you haven’t done so already, consider signing up for a totally free mind-body-spirit program that incorporates self-defense, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development — sign up for our free Rough ‘n’ Tumble Distance Learning Program!
Holy Eucharist is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 10 am EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy Eucharist, CLICK HERE.
Homily for the Epiphany of the Lord 1/5/25 – Father Mitch
Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13, Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12 World English Bible
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men† from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are in no way least among the princes of Judah;
for out of you shall come a governor
who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’ ”*
7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
9 They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.
The story of the three wise men at once intrigues and perplexes us. We are charmed and fascinated despite the parts of the story that fly in the face of logic and expectation. Make no mistake, the confusing parts of the story aren’t there because people of the past were gullible and wrote things down without questioning them. Writing over 1,600 years ago, St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, noted that a star in the sky always appears to be hovering over a location in the distance, ever receding, like the proverbial carrot dangled in front of a mule, and cannot possibly indicate a specific location. He further noted that, for two reasons, the magi could not have “followed” the star in the astrological sense – first, because astrology doesn’t work, and second, because no one has never been bold enough to make the false claim that astrology can reveal a location as specific as a particular building. Chrysostom also mentioned the implausibility that Persian wise men, who were typically consultants in the court of Persian kings and princes, would risk being beheaded for paying homage to a foreign king.
The ancients certainly knew there were legitimate concerns with the reductionist, material, scientific truth of the story. But they also understood that there are higher truths than the material, and that this story contains vitally important allegorical, moral, and spiritual meanings that make it more than worthy of being at the center of the 12th and final day of the Christmas season. The biblical stories are infinite in their potential. An unlimited number of insights into the text are possible. Here are three that readily come to mind.
First, a star is the most beautiful, distant light in the night sky – the highest light that everyone can see, royal and common people alike. When we “wish upon a star” we give voice to our desires for the best possible future. From a practical, behavioral perspective, we can see that, although our desires widely differ, all those trying to get to the best possible place are moving in a similar direction, striving for a twinkling, half seen and indistinct destination. And all those who strive for the highest possible good for all will find a baby in a manger – the seed of extraordinary, life-saving potential available to all who share this common goal.
The moral message of the story is far more powerful, and is wrapped up in the way that stars represent objective moral truths. A star, like the North Star or the stars of the Southern Cross, keeps us from getting lost when surrounded by darkness. If we accept and live by the idea that all truths are subjective – that we are allowed to “speak our truth” instead of following God’s truth – we bicker and fight among ourselves, all traveling in random, chaotic directions. But if everyone including the “magi” – those especially rich in knowledge, prestige, and money – seek the star of God’s objective moral truth, then the Son of God and his saving grace will be revealed to us all.
And perhaps the greatest and most obvious spiritual truth we can gather from this story is that the star is an allegory for God the Father who shows us the right way to travel through life. That we, like the magi, should be prepared to risk our reputations and put aside our political allegiances, that we might ultimately find his Son. And having found his son, that we may surrender to him our gold and treasures and replace our desire for money, power, and fame with the desire for love, truth, righteousness, and justice. And having made our sacrifice, that we might worship him all the days of our life and be coheirs to eternal life through his salvific power.
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† 2:1 The word for “wise men” (magoi) can also mean teachers, scientists, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, or sorcerers.