What’s the “weekly mettle maker?”
The weekly mettle maker is a weekly blog post that contains training ideas, information, and fun facts related to Heritage Arts’ programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood nature appreciation and survival training, Heritage Fitness, and Heritage Spirit (YouTube church). It’s been around for over 5 years — although we didn’t start numbering them until May of 2018!
Mettle Maker #317
Self-defense: Do you have a training plan in place? Or do you just sort of wander along aimlessly, doing whatever you feel like doing? Nothing wrong with that by the way, if that’s your cup of tea. I’ve done that for months or years at a time. It’s very relaxing, fun, and can lead to insights. But where I am right now, I need a plan. Here’s a sample of my Monday through Friday. Want more training tips and drills in a structured format? Get with the program! Check our our free distance learning program here.
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Fitness: I know I talk about calisthenics a lot. But that’s because calisthenics are the “true north” of fitness. Calisthenics promote functional strength by increasing proprioception (body awareness), demonstrate higher motor unit recruitment (total muscle fibers engaged) and burn more calories than most other forms of exercise. If you’re not doing calisthenics, you might not have started training yet! Watch the video on the right. Want help designing a fitness program that suits your needs? Sign up for our free distance learning program.
This picture was taken around 11 AM facing south. The sun is on the left, shading the right sides of the clouds.
Wildwood. What do bird calls, clouds, wind direction, and powerful smells all have in common? They are all compasses when you are in dense woodland.
Sounds, like bird calls or the rushing of a river, and smells, like aroma of smoke or a stand of honeysuckle, can be kept on one side as a way of maintaining direction of travel. If you are hemmed in by trees and can only see one lonely cloud through the canopy, you can get a rough idea of direction by which side of the cloud is shaded. If you took note of the wind direction before you entered the woods, pay attention when there is a gust and you can get a rough idea of direction when there is a gust — the rustling of the wind will sound first in the direction from which it is coming and move toward you, buffered by leaves.
When you’re in the woods, pay attention closely. There’s more going on than you realize. Want to learn more about outdoor skills? Sign up for our free Wildwood distance learning program.
Homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 14th, 2022 – Archdeacon Mitch
Readings: Jer 38:4-6, 8-10, Ps 40:2, 3, 4, 18, Heb 12:1-4, Lk 12:49-53
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 World English Bible Catholic Edition
4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them; for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”
5 Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”
6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
8 Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.”
Some translations of these passages, especially older ones, say that Jeremiah was thrown into a dungeon. But the literal word in the Hebrew is habbor, which means “pit, well, or cistern,” and in the Latin Vulgate translation the word used is lacum which means “lake.” The reason why it was previously translated as “dungeon” is that it didn’t make any sense to throw a human being into a place where precious water is stored. We take it for granted, brothers and sisters, but in some places in the world today, were things are very much like they were in the time of Jeremiah, water is as precious as silver or more so. Literally life and death.
So when the old-timers read this passage they probably thought, “That’s stupid. This must mean ‘dungeon,’ not ‘cistern.’” But make no mistake, Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern. A cistern is an underground space for storing precious water, usually collected rainwater. In ancient times, especially in dry climates like the Middle East, they are and were very common. And from time to time they cease to be viable. Their walls crack and they leak. Animals fall in, drown, and foul the water. Metals, minerals, or other contaminants leach into the water from the surrounding stone. And when that happens, they’re only good for one thing – garbage pits. Archeologists love to find old wells and cisterns that have been used this way. They’re treasure troves. That’s why we read, “In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.” That sentence makes no sense unless you read substitute the word “cistern” for “dungeon.”
The fact that it’s a cistern used as a dump explains why, further on, Ebedmelech says Jeremiah is “likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.” Times are so tough in Jerusalem that there’s no garbage going into the abandoned cistern where Jeremiah has been cast down. Ebedmelech is saying, “if we don’t get him out soon, he’s going to starve to death because there aren’t any fresh scraps getting thrown down for him to scavenge upon.”
In the Bible, details like this matter. So what’s so important about the fact that Jeremiah has been thrown into a cracked or despoiled cistern being used as a dump? Because, remember, Jeremiah has been sent by God to get the people to dig deeper, to tap into his wellspring of living water. In Jeremiah 2:13, God speaks to Jeremiah and declares, “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water.”
The crushing irony of the story – the thunderous power of the prophesy – resounds through the ages! The people of Jerusalem were so starved for true food and true drink that they threw the prophet who could save them into – what? A discarded cistern full of garbage. It’s no wonder the city fell to Babylon!
Don’t you see? Moses was cast into the water as a baby and rescued by a slave. Jeremiah was cast into the cistern and recued by the slave Ebedmelech. And we are just like Moses and just like Jeremiah. We are cast into the waters of baptism and saved by Christ Jesus. For, as St. Paul said in Philippians 2: 5-7, Christ Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men. My friends, let us tap into the living waters of God.