What’s the “weekly mettle maker?”
Training ideas and info supporting Heritage Arts’ programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Wildwood outdoor skills, Heritage Fitness, and Heritage Spirit.
Mettlecraft Month 2022 is coming 11/1/22!
"Die before you Die. There is no chance after." (C. S. Lewis)
Soon it will be November and time for our Fifth Annual Mettlecraft Month at Heritage Self-Defense! This year’s challenge is a delightful little constitutional called “#86.” What’s a constitutional, you ask? It’s 7 calisthenics exercises done consecutively. And why is this one called #86? What are the exercises? Get real! This is just a teaser! Watch this space for a more formal announcement tomorrow.
Mettle Maker #325
DID YOU KNOW…? That you you can get a daily motivational text message from Heritage Arts? Click the awesome (and perhaps a bit cheesy?) scrolling link below to sign up!
Click here to sign up for DAILY MOTIVATIONAL text messages!
...
Click here to sign up for DAILY MOTIVATIONAL text messages! ...
Self-defense — The best ammo is a smooth combo. Pick a combo, one that’s effective and not too complex (2 - 5 strikes, including at least 1 kick). Stand up a heavy bag and unleash 100 smooth, full-power iterations of that combo. One of the keys to power is removal of waste, which reduces the distance your limb has to cover, which increases speed; and speed is related to power (Power = Work/Time). Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. In other words, do lots of combos, get smooth in your body mechanics so that your speed goes up, and at last your power will climb. For extra credit, complete the power and balance drill outlined in the video below. Want more self-defense training tips? How about a full-blown curriculum? Come out the club here in Richmond VA or sign up for our free distance learning program here.
Wildwood and Fitness combo — Stalking and skulking. For 100 yards, stalk imaginary prey or skulk to escape imaginary predators. In a real life situation, you might need to move very slowly and silently for 15 minutes or more, and it isn’t easy. You will not believe how strenuous it is, trust me. Watch the video on the right for more info. Want more fitness drills? Want to learn more about nature appreciation and survival? Sign up for one of our free distance learning programs.
Want to see a dog ride a onewheel? Watch the homily video below!
Homily for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Oct. 16th, 2022 – Archdeacon Mitch
Readings: Ex 17:8-13, Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 2 Tm 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8
Luke 18:1-8 World English Bible
1 He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray and not give up, 2 saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God and didn’t respect man. 3 A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, ‘Defend me from my adversary!’ 4 He wouldn’t for a while; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will wear me out by her continual coming.’ ”
6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. 7 Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Well, you have to love the Gospel of Luke, because Luke doesn’t shy away from including all of the most difficult parables. And today we have the parable of the persistent widow, which can be a little troublesome, because our natural inclination is to compare the unrighteous judge to God. After all, the widow is begging the judge for justice, and pray literally means “ask” or “beg,” so it seems natural. But there is no parallel between the judge and God in this parable, that’s for sure!
Jesus tells you at the very beginning what this parable is about. We read, “He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray and not give up.” So, we know it’s about being persistent in our prayer. But it’s also about faith. Now remember, faith isn’t blind belief. Faith us trusting in the evidence – trusting in God based on what we’ve seen him do in our own lives. Trust in what we see Christianity achieving in the world, trust in what we witness taking place in the lives of others who are saved from negative behaviors, addiction, and misery of all kinds, and so on. And of course, in the overwhelming evidence for the reality of the Resurrection.*
Now, make no mistake, the widow has no faith in the judge. She is under no illusion as to the judge’s character. She knows quite well that he neither fears God nor cares about others. But what she does have is faith in is Justice itself. Her prayer is persistent because she knows that God is Justice. We have faith because we know that God is all-in-all, the Alpha and the Omega (Rev 22:12), who “will come to judge the quick and the dead,” as we recite in the Apostle’s Creed.
And because we have faith in God’s justice, we know that it can operate even through an unjust judge. Even through unjust people, groups, governments, and so on. When justice prevails, it always prevails despite those who perpetrated the injustices. It always overcomes. But, since God is not a vending machine, it might not happen on our timeline. My dad used to say, “Everything always works out for the best.” And I would say, “No it doesn’t! Things turn out horribly all the time!” He replied, “Maybe things don’t turn out for the best on your timeline. But on God’s timeline, everything always turns out for the best.”
My father had faith in buckets. And so did the widow. She had faith that justice would prevail. Maybe not on her timeline, but eventually, in time. And she’s content to pray and beg for justice every day of her life, and even beyond, if need be.
Would that that we all had faith like the persistent widow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
* Skeptical about the reality of the Resurrection? Watch this gripping lecture by atheist-turned believer, and famous cold case detective, J. Warner Wallace, author of the best-selling book Cold Case Christianity. Det. Wallace has been featured in numerous documentaries, films and television shows, including six episodes of NBC’s Dateline. This lecture is called, “J. Warner Wallace: Did Jesus Really Die and Come Back to Life?”