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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 3 UPDATE: Walking? Maybe not. I seem to be the only one who’s really gotten into this year’s walking challenge. No big deal — every year can’t be a smash hit for everybody. So last Thursday the local Heritage Self-Defense group ran through the 2022 challenge known as #86 and got through 15 reps of each in 15:00 flat. Not too shabby!
Week 2 UPDATE: I tried to walk the Richmond Marathon on 11/11/23. 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 #380
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.”
Heritage Self-Defense: How's your pain tolerance? See photo on the right. Half fill a large pitcher with water and ice. Set timer for 3 mins and plunge your open hand and lower arm into it to test your pain tolerance. Do not squirm, make faces, or utter a sound. If you can’t go the full 3 mins, practice daily until you can. Note: As shown in Mythbusters episode #142, holding a hand in ice water for ≤ 3 minutes is safe for people with no precluding health issues. 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!
Heritage Fitness: Take a shot at Self-Destruct Sequence. Zombie Squats (50), Push-ups, diamond (25), Jump Squats (100), 10-Count Bodybuilders (25), Pikes/Leg Triangles (25), Jump Squats, split (50), Push-ups, Sit-out (25), Bicycles (50 each side), Burpees (25), Twisters (25 each side), Wall Touches (100), Push-ups, hopping/clapping (25). Arman holds the club record at 21:15 , and the immortal Mark Hatmaker holds the all-time record at 21:05 (while smoking a cigar). 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!
Heritage Wildwood: How's your weather wisdom? D o you know which tidbits of old-timey weather wisdom are reliable and which are merely myths? Is a read sky at night really a sailor's delight? Do trees really show the undersides of their leaves before a storm? Click the picture above to enlarge and expand this excerpt from Robert Baden-Powell's Scouting For Boys (7th Edition, 1915). Which of these are reliable and which are not? Well I guess you better go investigate and find out! 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-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday 11/19/23 – Father Mitch
Readings: Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31, Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 1 Thes 5:1-6, Mt 25:14-30
Matthew 25:14-30 World English Bible
14 “For it is like a man going into another country, who called his own servants and entrusted his goods to them. 15 To one he gave five talents,‡ to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. 18 But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them. 20 He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.’
21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
22 “He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.’
23 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter. 25 I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. 27 You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. 28 Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. 30 Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Some years ago I was a mid-level accounting manager looking to hire a file person. I got a stack of resumes from the Virginia Employment Commission’s special placements section for handicapped people. I asked the VEC to bring them in for interviews.
The first few didn’t show much promise. But then in walked Barbara. She wasn’t very articulate, but she was a smiling bundle of enthusiasm. It was like sitting across the table from a slice of golden sunshine. So I decided to give her a little test. I led her to the file room down the hall, handed her about a hundred invoices, and asked her to put them in numerical order. Then I went back to the conference room. I barely had enough time to sit down and exchange a sentence or two with the VEC representatives before Barbara was back. I assumed she was confused or had a question. But no – she was finished.
I flipped through the pile. There were no errors I could see. Sensing my shock at her speed and accuracy, the VEC folks explained that Barbara grasped number sequences intuitively, like colors or smells. We all chatted a bit. Barbara explained that her children were now in school and she was looking to enter the workforce for the first time. She wanted to bring in some money so that her husband Charlie wouldn’t have to work so hard. She hoped that, with her help, the could perhaps get ahead. She said that she had been looking for a job for a very long time, but nobody had given her the time of day.
I gave her the position on the spot. I would’ve been a fool not to. She was tailormade for putting papers in numerical order, and to her, this monotonous job was a golden opportunity. She worked for me for many years. And in time she learned to do more. She filled in for our receptionist, greeted customers, answered calls, and so on.
Like Barbara, we are all given certain talents. Make no mistake – the word talent, as in a natural, in-born gift, is literally the same word as a talent, a standard weight of silver in the ancient world. They are not, by any means, different words that happen to sound the same. They are the same word. A talent – a skill – is money in the bank. Unless of course we bury it in the ground like the third servant, who takes the one talent of silver his master gives him and puts it where it cannot multiply.
The master shuts this lazy man out, leaving him in the cold and dark. Don’t you see? That could’ve been Barbara. Imagine how hard it must’ve been for an adult woman with learning disabilities, and no experience, to go out and try to find a job. God gave Barbara one talent. Did she bury it? No, no! She was brave. She took a courageous risk, and it paid off. Not just for her and her family, but for me, my business, and everyone who got to see her smile.
We are all given talents by our creator, and we are supposed to put them to good use, not just for ourselves, but for the good of everyone – for our families, coworkers, communities, churches, and ultimately, for the greater glory of God.
‡ 25:15 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds (usually used to weigh silver unless otherwise specified)