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WEEKLY FELLOWSHIP! JOIN AROUND THE CAMPFIRE!
Sundays at 11:30 AM ET. Click here to join via Google Meet!
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.”
What’s new?
All three of our original programs are now unified under the name Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. In order to understand why we’ve made this change, you need to know a little bit of the history. Read this post for more details. Skin in the game is now required. All of our programs are still free. But if you can afford it, we now ask for a donation of at least $1/month. Those who can’t are required to volunteer to do something. You can be a social media promoter, a blogger, researcher, newsletter editor, fundraiser, mentor, artist, or even come up with your own idea. At the very least you should attend weekly fellowship and hang out
weekly fellowship Sundays at 11:30 Am et. click here to join via google meet!
Mettle maker #407: Memorials, mulberries, and milestones (and a freebie)
MEMORIALS. Monday is Memorial Day. Please take a moment to pay your respects to your fallen loved ones. Pray for them during church on Sunday. Put photos of them on the dining room table. Honor them. The folks who came before us made the world we get to live in.
MULBERRIES. New video on foraging mulberries will be live on Monday at 9:30 AM ET — see link on the right — check it out!
MILESTONES. 4/24 was the 11th anniversary of the weekly Mettle Maker. And this year is the 15th anniversary of the founding of Heritage Arts! Although we didn’t incorporate until 2/9/17, we started the original club that morphed into Heritage Arts on 2/7/09. Pretty cool huh?
FREEBIE. FREE ebook download for Heritage followers only! Coupon code "UD74U" good until 6/1/24... https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1567495
Interested in a totally free 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 Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sunday 5/26/24 – Father Mitch
Readings: Dt 4:32-34, 39-40, Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22, Rom 8:14-17, Mt 28:16-20
Matthew 28:16-20 World English Bible
16 But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. 17 When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted. 18 Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go‡ and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
When we go underwater, the sensory receptors in our face trigger a body, mind, and spirit impulse called "the diver's reflex." It's automatic, like a knee jerk. Respiration and heart rate slow so we can hold our breath longer. Anxiety decreases. We get more relaxed. That’s why splashing water on your face is a great home remedy for calming nerves, why your grandma made you wash your face at bedtime, and why sick people are soothed by a cool washcloth on the face. There’s something very curious going on with human beings and our relationship with water.
Even if we haven’t literally been thrown off a pier, we all understand the idea of "sink or swim.” We've all stepped into a new job or role, or into an unfamiliar circumstance, and we’ve had to figure it out as we went. It's difficult, a little unfair and, in the case of an actual lake, dangerous and inhumane. But still, we all get it. We recognize that there’s nothing quite like the school of hard knocks.
In the Book of Exodus the Hebrews survived the attack of the Egyptians by entering the Red Sea – which Moses parted for them by the power of God – but they emerged completely dry. And what happened? They forgot. Moses reminded them, like he does in today's reading from Deuteronomy, again and again, but the Hebrews always forgot God’s miracles and gifts. While Moses was away, the people made a golden calf and worshipped it. Maybe a “sink or swim” experience would’ve taught them better. I’ll say it again. There’s something miraculous going on with that water. We just can't seem to learn to swim without getting wet.
Humans are unique in that no other creature can consciously its control breathing. With animals, breathing is completely automatic, and dependent on the activity in which they're engaged. Our noses are designed to prevent water from going inside when we dive in. Our sleek skin makes cutting through the water a breeze. Why? What on earth is going on here? What is our connection to water? What is it about getting wet that cuts to the heart of being human?
Instead of God continuing to part the troubled waters of life for us, allowing us to get through dry like the Hebrews got through the Red Sea, Jesus came to earth and said that watching, hearing, reading scriptures, and following the laws of the Torah was no longer enough. God decided that the way forward for us was the waters of baptism.
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus and the disciples go to the same mountain where the people forgot what Moses taught them. And some of the disciples doubted, just like some of the Hebrews doubted Moses. So Jesus, the Author of Life, knowing that getting immersed in water is going to have a huge effect on them inside and out, issues a baptismal command to them -- and to us.
Friends, Jesus knows that we come out of that baptismal water feeling refreshed and calm. And that's a real, actual, physical response that, when combined with the spiritual part, we carry in our hearts forever. Jesus knows that nobody can make us forget our baptisms, the vows we took, and how we felt. Because we didn’t stay dry. We stepped into the water. We got wet. And that experience stays with us forever.
Jesus has established a renewed covenant, and to accept it, we need to get wet. We need to get immersed. We need to sink or swim. We need to get engaged in the Christian life. We need to be baptized, and to baptize others, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
‡ 28:19 TR and NU add “therefore”