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6th annual Mettlecraft month is here!
What is “mettlecraft?” Mettlecraft is the art, skill, and cultivation of endurance, unflagging determination, and resolute strength of mind, body, and spirit.
This year’s Mettlecraft Month challenge is to walk a marathon or, if that’s too much, to set a personal walking record appropriate to your current health status. Post your efforts in the comments or send an email to mitch@heritageartsinc.com with your progress notes and I’ll include them here!
Week 2 UPDATE: I tried to walk the Richmond Marathon yesterday. Unfortunately the pace trucks caught me at the 16-mile mark (about 4:40). For those who haven’t done a marathon, the trucks that break down the course (gathering up water and medical stations, picking up trash, removing traffic barricades, etc.) follow the participants through the course. They proceed at the slowest pace speed (the equivalent of a 16-minute mile) to ensure prompt closure of the event at the 7-hour mark. Local police reopen traffic behind them. If you don’t stay on pace, you have to walk without traffic control and race support. I’m a heart attack survivor, so it would’ve been very unwise for me to continue walking without water and medical staff. Even though I didn’t finish, it was a fun event, and I’m happy that Heritage Arts raised $100 to support Sportsbackers youth fitness programs. Photo set below — click on the pics to view my comments.
Want to reminisce about Mettlecraft Months of the past? Here are some links…
5th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2022
4th Annual Mettlecraft Month 2021
3rd Annual Mettlecraft Month 2020
2nd Annual Mettlecraft Month 2019
1st Annual Mettlecraft Month 2018
Mettle Maker #379
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.”
Fitness — Did you ever hear of Jack LaLanne? The incredible Jack LaLanne was a fitness phenomenon, an unparalleled paragon of power, an American physical culture icon. To learn more about this remarkable man, check out his website. But if you want just a quick overview, here are just a few of his feats and firsts:
Jack Lalanne
1930 AAU Wrestling Championship
1936 AAU wrestling medal
1955 Age 41: Swam, handcuffed, from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, CA.
1956 Age 42: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes
1974 Age 60: Swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, for a second time handcuffed, this time shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat
1980 Age 66: Towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour.
1984 Age 70: Handcuffed and shackled, towed 70 boats with 70 people 1 ½ miles.
Opened the first modern, coed health spa
Inventor of the Hindu Jump calisthenic
Inventor of the first leg extension machine
Invented the first weight selector for cable machines
Conceived the design for Smitch Machine
First, and longest running, nationally syndicated exercise TV show (1951-1985)
The first to sell vitamins and exercise equipment on television
First to teach a revolving 2-3 week body building training program
Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award
Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award, Y.M.C.A. Impact Award, and too many more awards to list
In his honor I put together a Jack LaLanne constitutional made up of 7 of his favorite calisthenics (based on videos of his TV show and a review of available published materials).: Push-ups, Jumping Jacks, Standing Side Leg Raises, High Steps, Knee Raises, Calf Raises, and Hindu Jumps (which he invented!). Complete 25 of each. Jack often advocated 6-8 reps sets for beginners and 10-15 reps or more for those more advanced. See the video above-left for the details.
Need a free fitness coach to help you build a program that suits your specific needs and goals? We’re a 501c3 charity! Click here to sign up for our distance learning fitness program!
Martial Arts — The Short Circling Drill is a great way to hardwire “move while you hit and hit while you move.” Get in front of your heavy bag. Throw a Jab-Cross combo as you circle, then Jab-Jab-Cross, then Jab-Jab-Jab-Cross, and finally 4 Jabs and a Cross. Then change stance and repeat back the other way. Put in three rounds. When you get done, try the constitutional above. Jack was a wrestler after all! Interested in American Rough and Tumble martial arts? Join the martial arts club in Richmond, VA or click here to sign up for the Heritage self-defense distance learning program! For an intro on Heritage Art’s distance learning programs, watch the video above.
Wildwood Outdoor Skills — In a survival situation, how do you turn a scrap of cloth into cordage? I was in the middle of shooting a video on this topic when guess what popped into my YouTube feed? The video below. Here Creek Stewart (one of my favorite outdoor skills instructors) illustrates how to spiral cut a small animal skin to make cordage.
You can also cut cloth this way — see the diagram above — then reverse twist it into cordage. For a video showing how to reverse wrap cordage, click here (Creek Stewart again — he’s a powerhouse). Looking for a comprehensive adult outdoor skills program? Click here to sign up for the Heritage Wildwood distance learning program!
Holy Communion 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 communion, CLICK HERE.
Homily for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday 11/12/23 – Father Mitch
Readings: Wis 6:12-16, Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Mt 25:1-13
Matthew 25:1-13 World English Bible
Jesus said, “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.† 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
What is a virgin? A young woman who has not lain with a man, symbolizing a man or woman who is not promiscuous. This is someone who is in control of his or her behavior. Ten is the number of the Ten Commandments, what the Hebrews called “The Ten Words” or “The Ten Sayings” and ten is the number associated with malkut, the Jewish mystical concept of physical creation.
Thus we see that the ten virgins are all following the rules. They are pure in their worldly behavior. But self-control, although praiseworthy, faces inward. Discipline is a type of light, but it is a containment rather than an outpouring of light. It’s also necessary for the spirit that inspired the discipline to have an outburst. The virgins, therefore, carry lamps so that their light can shine forth.
This part of the parable is an echo of Matthew 5:14-16. “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” It’s not enough for us to be in control of our behavior. We must go into the world and shine our light into dark places, into prisons, hospitals, and churches, into the lives of disordered people, and into the structures of benighted institutions, filling them with God’s light: Goodness, Beauty, and Truth, Faith, Hope, and Love.
In Jesus’ parable, all of the virgins fall asleep. We are all imperfect. We are bound to need rest, and our focus is destined to wax and wane. But if we are wise, we will be ready with extra reserves of fuel. We won’t, like the foolish virgins, expect others to give us some of their oil. But what is this mysterious oil, and what is this lamp we are expected to carry?
The oil is the understanding and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior who lives in us and in whom we live. We can’t just follow the laws and be virgins. St. Paul says in Galatians 2:19-20, “For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” We can’t do this ourselves. We must be fueled by union with him.
And what is the lamp? In Revelation 21:23 we read that the New Jerusalem, “has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb.” As we await our Savior’s return, let us hold high the light of the Christ and let it shine into every dark place.
† 25:7 The end of the wick of an oil lamp needs to be cut off periodically to avoid having it become clogged with carbon deposits. The wick height is also adjusted so that the flame burns evenly and gives good light without producing a lot of smoke.