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.”

Mettle Maker #334

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Fitness — Common sense fitness? How many times could you push a shovel into the dirt without taking a break? 100 times? How many times could you carry an 80 lb. bag of concrete the 50 yards from the truck to the jobsite before taking a break? 5 times? Remember the old school adage: “If you can’t do it every day, you can’t do it.” Bottom line: practical movements with real-world applications ought to be the bread-and-butter of any fitness routine, and you should approach your sets and reps in a common-sense fashion. Real life isn’t an Olympic competition you peak for,. Interested in a free fitness distance learning program? Check out our free programs here.

Self-Defense — How’s your Shoulder Shrug to Arm Drag? Some folks decry this maneuver because they say nobody will stand still for it (see video on the right). But that hasn’t stopped this maneuver from working ten times at every wrestling meet in North America since 1971. Of course people don’t stand still! For Pete’s sake, you might not pull off the whole thing from A to Z, but you may well at least break free with the shrug and have a chance to scram. Look, the position will not “hold” the same way it does in a training video. Isn’t that obvious to anyone who has ever sparred? Don’t be a silly goose. Practice it! Interested in a structured self-defense program? Sign up for our free distance learning program.

Wildwood — Know your seeds. Maples aren’t the only trees whose seeds are fashioned like wings. Take a look at the photo set below. These are the very tiny seeds of the Crepe Myrle (Lagerstroemia indica). They fall in winter, and seem to be increasingly popular as a food source for birds., but they aren’t edible by humans. Maple keys are though, and they’re yummy! See video on the left. Want more nature appreciation and survival instruction? Click here to sign up for the free Wildwood nature appreciation and survival distance learning program.

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Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 18th, 2022 – Archdeacon Mitch

Readings: Is 7:10-14, Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, Rom 1:1-7, Mt 1:18-24

Matthew 1:18-24 World English Bible

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. 20 But when he thought about these things, behold,§ an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus,* for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”

22 Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,

23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child,

and shall give birth to a son.

They shall call his name Immanuel,”

which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”✡

24 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; 25 and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

How does our Lord enter into his creation? After all, God is not a being in the world, not some kind of sky fairy, not a being living somewhere in the universe. He’s not a super powerful alien vacationing in Maui or hiding in a distant galaxy. As the uncaused cause existence itself, we cannot find him in the material world. We cannot open a book, rifle the pages, and expect the author to fall out like a pressed flower.

So I ask again: how does God enter into his creation? Does he smash his way in like an intruder? Does he enter by war, patricide, and retribution the way that the Greco-Roman gods did? Is he born of a giant, like Odin?

No. Our Lord enters by faith. Mary is visited by the archangel Gabriel and told her destiny is to be the Mother of God. Does she say, “Please, no! My husband and his family will never believe this really happened, and he’ll divorce me!” No, she says instead, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38). What does Joseph do and say when the archangel Gabriel appears to him? Does he reject the news? Does he allow pride and doubt interfere with his belief? No. He believes. He has faith in his bride’s fidelity, faith in the angel, and most importantly, faith in God!

And when does the Lord enter his creation? Does he show up, like the old pagan gods did, at some point in the misty, shady, prehistoric past? No indeed! It’s no coincidence that the world clock reset to zero at the birth of Jesus, and that we number the years according to his birth. Jesus is born during history. There are no eyewitness accounts to the myths of the old gods. Jesus’ mother and father are alive into his adulthood, even into his ministry. At the time his story is recorded, there are living observers to the events in his childhood. The Lord enters his creation, not just mythically, but literally. In the here and now.

How appropriate it is that we should find Psalm 24 paired with this passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew. Because Psalm 24, my favorite, describes exactly that is going on in the arrival of the infant Jesus.

Faith is the door, the gateway, through which the Lord enters his creation. He does not make a mere symbolic, philosophical entry– it is symbolic and philosophical for sure! – but he also enters as a literal fact in time, in and through the actual choices of two humble people named Mary and Joseph. Our hearts and minds reel with the thought of it! It’s so spectacular, so shocking, so extraordinary! Through the gate of their true love and true faith, the Lord enters his creation to save us all.

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§1:20 “Behold”, from “ἰδοὺ”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.

*1:21 “Jesus” means “Salvation”.

✡1:23 Isaiah 7:14