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Mettle Maker #394
What’s the weekly mettle maker? Training tips and educational information in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? According the American Heritage Dictionary, mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”
Heritage Self-Defense: The Top Saddle escape series continues! Do you have more than one method for escaping Top Saddle a.k.a. “mount?” You can’t make your attacker behave the way you’d prefer. Some guys ride high, some low, some posture up and strike, some choke, etc. So you need to have several methods that counter the specifics of how they’re riding. Watch the video above, and follow the whole series — when we’re done, there will be 10 techniques and 5 videos in all. But don’t just watch them — train them!
Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts with a spiritual center? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program.
Heritage Fitness: Do you eat breakfast? What’s the goal? If you’re trying to watch your weight, the goal should be eat just enough nutritious food at breakfast to forestall hunger for 4 hours. 10 grams of fat are required to achieve that. Therefore, your breakfast must contain 10 to 12 grams of fat and be below the target calories. If your breakfast does not contain 10 grams of fat, you will be hungry again very quickly and be more likely to cheat on your diet plan. Here are some breakfast ideas with 10 grams of fat:
• One egg (boiled, poached, or cooked in a non-stick pan with cooking spray) and two slices of thin, pre-cooked bacon = 10 – 12 grams of fat.
• One scrambled egg with 2 tbsp of grated cheese = 10 grams of fat.
• A slice of whole wheat toast with 1 tbsp of butter or peanut butter = 10 grams of fat.
• I slice of whole wheat toast with ½ smashed avocado, a dollop of sour cream, and a splash of salsa = 10 grams of fat.
• ½ cup oatmeal with 1 tbsp of butter, 2 tbsp of raisins, and zero-calorie sweetener = 10 grams of fat.
Need a free fitness coach to help develop an old-school fitness program that suits your specific needs and goals? Click here to sign up for one of our free programs!
Heritage Wildwood Outdoor Skills: Learn how to make a “bark shanty.” Check out this semi-permanent trapping shelter from Camp Life in the Woods by William Hamilton Gibson (1881) page 245. Sounds like a lot of work! But you be the judge. I’d much prefer a debris shelter. Looking for a free adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up!
Holy Communion 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 communion, CLICK HERE.
Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, 2/25/24 – Father Mitch
Readings: Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18, Ps 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19, Rom 8:31b-34, Mk 9:2-10
Mark 9:2-10
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. 3 His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
7 A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
8 Suddenly looking around, they saw no one with them any more, except Jesus only.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant.
Last week, we marveled at the very strange way in which Jesus retells the flood story from the book of Genesis by sending a new flood – a flood of Baptismal waters – that cleanses not by death and destruction, but rather by life and resurrection. We saw how the first flood was sealed by a covenant rainbow, but the second was bound up in the promise of the cross.
The Gospels are filled with reverberations, recapitulations, and repeating patterns like this. They echo and flow through the stories. Like ripples in pond that reflect when they hit the rocky shore, Jesus steps into certain themes, and retells them. Some he restates with words, others he reiterates with his actions, and some he fulfills in his person.
Today we hear, in our Old Testament reading, the story of Abraham offering the sacrifice of his son Isaac. Immediately we see how Jesus steps into and retells this story in an impossible way. Jesus is one with the God the Father, so he is Abraham. Jesus is the Father’s only Son, so he is Isaac. Jesus is the True Sacrifice, so he is the ram caught in the thicket, complete with the crown of thorns. He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End” who will “give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.” (Rev 21:6).
And in our Gospel reading we see the glory that allows Jesus to say, do, and be capable of retelling and fulfilling these stories. Jesus is a new Moses, glowing with the new way of seeing the law. Jesus is a new Elijah who, like Elijah, knows the date of his death and will ascend into heaven. But the fire of Christ will not come down like the fire that Eljah commanded to destroy his enemies in 2 Kings 1:10. Jesus’ Pentecostal fire will come down to empower his disciples until he comes again.
The Old Testament stories are good. But Jesus’ makes them great, relating them at a much higher, powerful, and more beautiful pitch. Being made in God’s image, and following in the footsteps of Jesus, we can do what Jesus does in our own small way. We too, in our human capacity, can step into our stories and live out their greater possibilities. Lent is a time for reflection. It’s the perfect time look at the positive stories in our lives, engage with them, and consider how we might live them in even greater truth and sincerity.
Do you have a good marriage? How about becoming such a great wife or husband that the fullest promise of your union might be realized, transforming it into an amazing and eternal love story?
Are you a reliable worker with a steady paycheck? Good. But what if you went above and beyond? Could you transform yourself into a dedicated worker with a remarkable and satisfying career?
Do you have a few friends to spend time with? That’s terrific. But what if you became brothers and sisters with them? What if you brought the lost sheep to the waters of baptism?
Do you patiently and politely get along with your family members, neighbors, or coworkers? Good. But how might you step into those relationships and make them shine with glory like the sun?