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.”
Mettle Maker #353
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Self-Defense: Does solo martial arts training actually work? Yes. Wrestling great Dan Gable — arguably the greatest collegiate-style wrestler who ever lived — is and was a huge proponent of solo training. He famously asked his high school wrestling coach for a key to the gym, and would spend hours shadow wrestling, throwing floor bags, and so forth. His home gym is in a barn — a Rocky-styled, dirt floored nightmare. See video on the left — this is one of his favorite solo drills. Want to learn how to fight Rough ‘n’ Tumble style? Join the Heritage Self-Defense club in Richmond, VA. Or, if distance learning is your thing, click here to enroll in the Heritage Arts Self-Defense distance learning program!
Fitness: Food is more than nutrients. Eat food that has been prepared by hands, preferably your own, and say grace over it. Food is more than an accumulation of nutrients. It’s becoming increasingly clear to nutritionists, biologists, and researchers that there’s far more to the human-food relationship than nutrient science – simply isolating the nutrients in food and then attempting to determine the effects of those nutrients on human health. Buzzwords like “food synergy” and “food matrices” are being used to describe the relationship between whole foods and human biological systems (Jacobs 2007).
But our grandparents understood this already, without all the fancy words. Food has important social functions. We use it to demonstrate our care for one another. We take chicken soup to the sick and gift chocolates to our lovers on Valentine’s day. Food is at the center of every celebration and wake. We bake cakes for birthdays and weddings, have church potlucks on religious holidays, and grieve by sharing snacks and memories of the deceased at the wake. And we use family recipes to pass on family identities and traditions.
Private chef services, meal prep plans, and pre-made meal delivery services are probably “healthier” by the nutrition numbers than a cruddy TV dinner from the frozen food section at the grocery store or a military MRE. But all of those examples merely check a box, and none of them compare to a home-cooked meal, prepared and served in community with friends and family.
It’s one thing to plug a hole. It’s another thing entirely to sit at the intersection of food, family, and friendship and engage with your culture. The complete experience of food, in its entirety, is an important component of human mind-body-spirit health. So again: Eat food that has been prepared by hands, preferably your own, and say grace over it. Want more old-school fitness material? Click here to sign up for our 100% free program!
Wildwood: Learn to make some wild tea this spring. See the pics on the right. From left to right, these are all things I gathered and put in my dehydrator for homemade herbal tea — Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) leaves, Blackberry (Rubus L.) leaves and blossoms, and Chive blossoms (Allium schoenoprasum). Not pictured: rose petals and buds, dandelion blossoms, and mint leaves. There are tons of wild plants and flowers bursting into life right now. They’re fun to gather and brew and delicious to sip! Want to learn how? Click here and sign up for the 100% free Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!
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Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Sunday 4/30/23 – Archdeacon Mitch
Readings: Acts 2:14a, 36-41, Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b4, 5, 6, 1 Pt 2:20b-25, Jn 10:1-10
John 10:1-10 World English Bible Catholic Edition
1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture. 10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, and the good shepherd doesn’t force, threaten, or frighten the sheep. This is a widely known leadership philosophy, one that has been attributed to everyone from Gen. George S. Patton to economist Maynard Keynes. I’m not sure who said it first, but it goes like this: “People are like rope. You can pull them, but you can’t push them.”†
Jesus says, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.” A good shepherd pulls and leads the sheep. He has a relationship with the sheep. Look at it this way. A gate is a line of defense. When we push people, they get defensive. The gates, as it were, are closed and locked. But if we lead, inspire, and have a relationship with people, their defenses naturally open and they follow us.
The sheep follow the good shepherd because they “know his voice” and “will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him.” Unlike Jesus, the Pharisees, push. They don’t care about the defensive feelings of the people. They force behavior by punishing lawbreakers. Rather than loving the people as a good shepherd loves his sheep, they objectify the people, treating them like defendants in the legal framework of Hebraic law’s 613 commandments.
All of this was on display in the previous episode in the Gospel of John. Remember how the Pharisees were up in arms about Jesus’ healing of the blind man on the sabbath? Remember how they dragged the blind man into court – twice! – and then his family as well? This is precisely what Jesus is talking about.
The thief and the bandit get what they want at the point of a weapon. The robber says, “Give me all your money!” A bad leader is like a robber. Instead of demanding money or goods, a bad leader says, “Obey the rules or you will be punished!” When Jesus says, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers” it is a bold and revolutionary statement! All of the previous prophets – all of the leaders, teachers, and kings of the Hebrews – were pushing. Unlike Jesus, they used threats and punishments to try and impose good behavior.
Jesus still wants us to follow the rules – to obey the ten commandments, say our prayers, observe the holidays, participate in church rituals, and so on – but not out of fear. He wants us to do it voluntarily, organically, from a place of love and inspiration. He says, “The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” He wants to come with him willingly, freely, and joyfully, and live with him in eternal life!
† Those who are interested in this concept from a sociological, governmental, and/or business perspective should research the term “enforcement cost.” The emotional, operational, and efficiency costs of excessive policies and procedures – a.k.a. “red tape” – is a massive drain on companies. The fiscal costs of policing and litigation crushes societies and governments. Examples are everywhere. Getting people to cooperate and do things properly of their own accord saves individuals, communities, businesses and governments trillions of dollars – and makes them happier to boot!