As we announced last week…
We’re making just one weekly blog post with everything included. You’ll get the weekly Mettle Maker that used to be posted on Saturdays, plus the weekly Holy Communion all in one.
Why the change?
We’re re-Focusing on our mission to bring the wisdom of the past into the present via free classes relating to self-defense, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development. We’re looking toward the future while preserving our shared human heritage — the accumulated knowledge of those who came before us.
And we’re encouraging you to remember that life is short — so live with intent!
And now, on with the show!
1776, 87, and 72
In honor of Independence Day tomorrow (that’s the 1776) I present the Gettysburg Address (a famous speech given 87 years later) which references Independence Day. In these partisan, imperiled times, Lincoln’s words seems as poignant and appropriate as they were back then.
And then, at the bottom of this post I present my homily on the commissioning of the 72 disciples from Luke 10.
The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
—Abraham Lincoln
Mettle Maker #311
Self-defense: Here’s what a typical training session looks for me these days:
Forms (Star, Moon, Dragon, Wheel, and Raven), 100 kicks (10 x 10), 5 mins on the heavy bag, 10 mins of live strikes on the forging post (5 with tomahawk and 5 with Bowie), MBF (martial base fitness - 4 x 4 x 4 of low-impact martial fitness exercises), body toughening, and a set of either Thrusters (3 x 10) or Sandbag Carries (3 x 50 yards), a 3 min cool-down, and 15 minutes of internal work (contemplation, meditation, or prayer). This takes about an hour and 15 mins. What does your routine look like? Want to start training at home? Check our our free distance learning program.
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Fitness: If you can’t do it every day, maybe you can’t do it. This common-sense concept seems to be back into vogue these days. Heritage Arts distance learning program graduate James is all about the Tactical Barbell program, which operates on a similar idea. Pavel has made a career out of lauding his lower-impact “greasing the groove” concept, Mark Hatmaker has gone full-bore into his reduced impact “unleaded program” and yours truly has been banging the MBF drum for several years now. Want details on MBF? Read all about it in Martial Grit or sign up for our free distance learning program.
Wildwood. Check out this handy reference from the 7th Edition of Sir Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys. Over a hundred years old, and still sound advice. Get there! Want to learn more? Sign up for our free Wildwood distance learning program.
Holy Communion for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 3, 2022
Readings: Is 66:10-14c, Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20, Gal 6:14-18, Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
Luke 10:1-12 American Standard Version
10 Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy [a]others, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself was about to come. 2 And he said unto them, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your ways; behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no wallet, no shoes; and salute no man on the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye shall [b]enter, first say, Peace be to this house. 6 And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon [c]him: but if not, it shall turn to you again. 7 And in that same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. 8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9 and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 10 But into whatsoever city ye shall enter, and they receive you not, go out into the streets thereof and say, 11 Even the dust from your city, that cleaveth to our feet, we wipe off against you: nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh. 12 I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. 20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
We read today that the story of the seventy – or the seventy-two, depending on the source document from which our translation is derived. Ancient scrolls are split about fifty-fifty on that score. But regardless of the total number of disciples, many directives about how we should evangelize are embedded in this story. Some are obvious, some less so.
Obviously, we are supposed to travel and work in faith rather than relying on material things. Thus, we are told to take no purse, wallet or shoes. Rather than hopping from house to house, we’re supposed to get to know our hosts and become a part of the family for a while. He tells us to eat what’s put before us, something everyone in a family learns from a young age – to respect and appreciate the food that hard work has purchased, and love has seasoned.
And if the town doesn’t welcome us? Well, the Lord says we should wipe the dirt of their town from our feet and, on the way out, give them the same message we always give whether we stay or whether we go: the Kingdom of God is at hand, that is to say, it is right here and within our reach if only we’ll repent and believe in the Gospel. And this isn’t surprising, considering that Jesus says the law and the prophets boil down to loving our neighbor as ourselves.
But what’s less obvious is why the Lord twice refers to his disciples as laborers. Not as guests, teachers, or servants, but as laborers. A laborer sweats. His hands blister and his back aches. After years of toil his body can break down, and every day the chance of injury looms. So this is serious business to which we’re being commissioned. This isn’t tidying up and taking out the trash. Brothers and sisters, we’re being called to hard labor, and we need to earn our keep.
Then, finally, the Lord says he has given us authority to tread upon snakes and scorpions and that nothing will harm us. Now this is a little sticky. We know that we shouldn’t tempt God by throwing ourselves from high places expecting to fly, for example, and he’s clear that we shouldn’t celebrate victories over snakes and scorpions over as our own. He says, “rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” What are we to make of this? Surely, we shouldn’t expect immunity to suffering at the hands of risks and dangers of all kinds?
The lives of the saints and martyrs demonstrate that the most dedicated, pious, and selfless Christians suffer every pain, suffering, disease, injury, and injustice imaginable, every persecution, torture, and wrongdoing that can be conceived by evil forces and perpetrated by misguided people. So, perhaps Jesus is saying to us that just as we are sent out as a group we won’t be overcome as a group. One or two of us might be taken out, but not all of us. Some of us may suffer horribly, but not all of us. An entire generation of disciples may perish, but the next generation will take up the labor anew.
Brothers and sisters, I think the Lord is sending us out into the world, not as individuals but as part of the immortal body of Christ. If that’s what Jesus means, then we can all see that’s true beyond doubt. Nothing to date has been successful halting the mission, and nothing ever will.