The Margins: Mettle Maker #281

Note: The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

This week’s mettle maker revolves around the idea of the margins. People like to watch what everyone else is doing so that they can avoid common mistakes, and that’s a great idea. But it’s also true that the great ones — the Nobel Prize winners, the history-makers, the truly remarkable — are out exploring the margins. Get there.

The Margins: Mettle Maker #281

  • Self-Defense: The difference between mediocrity and mastery is form. Form improves efficiency, thereby saving energy while increasing damage throughput. Do 6 Palm Strike combo rounds v. heavy bag for form. Keep hips ahead of hands, shift weight to load hands, fingers of palm strike hand should be at 45 - 75 degrees from vertical at all times, fist strikes must hit with two center knuckles, etc. etc. Dial back speed so that no round breaks are needed and set timer for 6 x 3:00. Round 1: Lead Jab Palm high (face, nose, etc.), Reverse Punch midsection (heart, solar plexus), Lead Hook Palm high (ear, mastoid process). Round 2: Switch stance and repeat. Round 3: Lead Jab Palm high (face, nose, etc.), Reverse Punch midsection (heart, solar plexus), Lead Shovel Hook Punch midsection (false ribs). Round 4: Switch stance and repeat. Round 5: Lead Jab Palm high (face, nose, etc.), Reverse Punch midsection (heart, solar plexus), Rear Knee low (hypogastric region, groin). Round 6: Switch stance and repeat. Need help with form? Join the club or sign up for the Heritage Self-Defense distance learning program.

  • Fitness: Are you a prisoner to your training? People in prison mark time until their release. Is that what you’re doing in your fitness? “I need to do at least twenty minutes of cardio twice a week” or “I need to lift three times this week for at least 45 minutes.” If so, break free of that jail cell and range free. Set specific goals, make a plan, and do what you need to do to get there. What difference does it make how much times it takes? Are you afraid it’s going to eat into your cell phone browsing time, your YouTube time, your party time, or your on-demand video binge-watching time? If you need help with your plan, sign up for Heritage Fitness and we’ll help you free of charge.

  • Wildwood: Explore wisdom in the margins. My father had this expression: “Sweep out the corners. The middle of the floor can take care of itself.” That’s universally a wise expression. Wisdom isn’t facts — that’s knowledge. Wisdom is knowing what to do. Push your survival wisdom out onto the edge. Sure, you know the twelve most common knots. But can you tie them while lying on your back? In half light? With gloves on? With extremely small or large types of cordage? Can you find animal sign in dry, barren places? Scrounge up survival food in winter? Have a positive outlook even when conditions are ideal? If so, you’d better do something about that. Practice your skills in the margins. Need a training plan? Sign up here, it’s free.

  • Spirit: Are you “fairweather faithful?” Are you one of those people who has faith in a higher power as long as things are going well — but as soon as things go wrong, it all falls apart? Faith is not “believing in something without proof.” Faith is “trusting in God completely.” God is not a vending machine. You don’t pay out worship and then get rewards. God’s plan is complicated, way too complicated for us to understand. So, when you pray, you mustn’t request or expect wish fulfillment. At any given moment there are a billion other people praying for things that conflict with what you want. Pray for peace, for reconciliation, for acceptance. “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4: 6-7. Does this seem insurmountable? Do you need help with your faith? Join us for Holy Communion on Sunday or schedule a pastoral counseling session here.

Holy Communion - 10/17/21

Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, 10/19/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Video and text of today’s homily below.

If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.

You’ll notice a new painting on the wall behind the altar and some new stained glass. If you’d like to assist in the beautification of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.

Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, 10/17/21

Readings: Is 53:10-11, Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22, Heb 4:14-16, Mk 10:35-45 or 10:42-45

 

Friends, in order to fully comprehend the beauty and importance of today’s readings it’s necessary for us to fully understand the world in which they were first spoken.  At the time Jesus lived and preached, the fastest-growing and most prominent religion was the Roman Imperial Cult – the worship of the Roman emperor.  To call it a religion is actually a misconception.  The idea of worship as an activity or practice separate from government, or something that could be isolated within the culture, was unknown in the ancient world.  There was no such thing as separation of church and state.  Kings were gods, and in adjacent lands, queens were goddesses.  Libations – offerings of wine – were required to be poured out for Roman emperors at public feasts.  This was embedded in the Roman way of life – in its holidays, celebrations, and cultural events.

To get some idea of what this culture was like we can turn to the The Iliad, Homer’s epic poem.  It is one of the oldest works of Western literature and was the crowned jewel of the Greco-Roman epic cycle.  It is the story of the great warrior Achilles.  The story opens with King Agamemnon making a deal with Troy that results in Achilles having to give up a slave girl named Briseis.  Achilles has earned Briseis as the spoils of war.  He killed her family and took her as was his right, and now the King has taken her and traded her to the Trojans.  He is infuriated.  In fact, the first word in the Iliad is menis which is “wrath.”  Achilles, through divine intervention, convinces Agamemnon to renege on the deal.  Fighting for honor, spoils and glory ensue.  When Achilles finally defeats Hector, the Trojan prince, he desecrates the body by dragging it behind his chariot but eventually honors the fallen warrior by – guess what? – hosting funeral games in his honor.

What are funeral games?  They’re like the Olympic games, the Pythian games, and the many other types of games in Roman times.  They were central to what it was to be Roman.  Romans of every social level gathered in droves to observe and compete in tests of combat and athletics of all kinds.  This had been the Greco-Roman way for thousands of years.  Winning, success, pride and glory were the accepted way of life.  The winners were crowned with laurel leaves. 

Imagine now, if you will, how the words of Jesus must’ve sounded to Roman ears. “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."  How shocking this must have been, how scandalous, how appalling!

Jesus flips the existing story upside down.  He came, not with wrath but with love.  He came not to be served, but to serve.  He came not earn a wreath of laurels and live a long life of success and ease, but to be crowned with thorns and suffer the death of a criminal – not to win riches and the spoils of victory, but to spend his life pouring it out for others and to lose.  He came not to conquer men, but to defeat death itself and to show us the way to salvation.

Sensorium: Mettle Maker #280

Note: The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

This week’s mettle maker revolves around the idea of the sensorium — the entire sensory apparatus of an organism taken as a whole. Thanks to Mark Hatmaker for putting these concepts on my radar.

Sensorium: Mettle Maker #280

  • Self-Defense: Partially utilize your senses at your peril. We often group senses into five categories — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch — but that’s an immense simplification. Touch, for example (which is one of the most important fighting senses of all), is detected not just by direct skin contact but by means of hair follicles which are triggered when hairs are disturbed. And there are half a dozen different types of receptors in your skin that sense heat, pressure, torsion, and so forth. Self-defense isn’t about memorizing a million if/then statements like, “if he does this, then you do that.” Pay attention to your environment on an elemental level to register and avoid trouble; and when you fight, learn to react appropriately to feel, position, direction, pressure, and so forth. Want to learn more? Join our free distance learning program or come train with us on Tues and Thurs nights from 6 - 7 PM at West End Manor Civic Association, 8600 Lakefront Drive, Richmond VA 23294.

  • Fitness: Fitness should changes your perceptions. Is it changing yours? People who are strong and fit perceive the world differently. If you’ve never lifted weights, the idea of hauling and mixing a dozen 80 lb. bags of concrete to fix your sidewalk seems daunting. A 10k charity walk looks easy after you’ve run a marathon or hiked a mountain. If your employer asks you for a little extra effort, it doesn’t seem like much if you’re accustomed to getting up at 5 am to train. Unlike other vertebrates, humans are capable of applying seemingly narrow lessons across multiple domains. Take a minute to consider if you are fully applying the lessons you’ve learned through your fitness training.

  • Wildwood: Listen to your ears. Last week I suggested you follow your nose. This week I’m suggesting you make an effort to recognize the soundscape. Really listen to your environment. Soak in the sounds. There is, for example, a Northern Mockingbird who lives in the holly tree at the northeast corner of my house. He’s always the first bird to start singing at dawn. The news you get from just one little neighbor like this one, in combination with other input, can help you tell time, direction, and much more.

  • Spirit: Are your five senses pulling you apart like five wives or five husbands? The Gospel of John chapter 4 tells the story of the Samaritan woman. In this story, a woman of Samaria (a pagan culture) is drawing water at a well, and Jesus asks her for a drink. After a brief exchange, she requests more teaching. Jesus asks her to go and fetch her husband and come back, and she replies that she has no husband. Then Jesus says, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.” The woman then became a believer and, after bringing many to the faith, a martyr. This has been traditionally assumed to mean that she was a woman who had lived with many men out of wedlock or was many times divorced, and that she was impressed by Jesus’ ability to know her past. But what if Jesus was speaking of the fact that she was being torn in five different directions by her five senses? What if Jesus was suggesting that, because she was a slave to sights (pretty things, distractions), sounds (music, flattery), sensations (soft clothing, physical contact), smells (perfume), and tastes (food, wine) she is able to appreciate neither her actual husband nor her spiritual husband, God. Meditate on this.


Holy Communion - 10/10/21

Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, 10/10/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program.

If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.

You’ll notice a new painting on the wall behind the altar and some new stained glass. If you’d like to assist in the beautification of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.

Salt, Sugar and Elements: Mettle Maker #279

Note: The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

Salt, Sugar and Elements: Mettle Maker #279

  • Self-Defense: What is “Elemental contact?” I have a copy of United States Marine Corps training film MTF #12, “Combat Conditioning: Part I, Accelerated Calisthenics and Elemental Contacts" which was produced during the 1940s and used to train marines during World War II and the Korean War. One of the principles of this training program is combat conditioning through progressive, “elemental contact“ (from very light to moderately heavy) over the course of a 4 to 10 week boot camp. It prepares soldiers to fight but graduates them in good physical condition — healthy and injury free. As it turns out, that’s exactly what a good self-defense school should want. That’s why we stripped those drills right out of the book and dropped them into the Heritage program. You can be hardened to contact and learn the basics of self-defense in a surprisingly short period of time if you want to. Do you? If so, join our free distance learning program or come train with us on Tues and Thurs nights from 6 - 7 PM at West End Manor Civic Association, 8600 Lakefront Drive, Richmond VA 23294.

  • Fitness: Salt, calcium and sugar are fundamental. During last weekend’s hike I almost pushed myself into shock (I know what it feels like because I did it on a hike once before). This was dangerous and stupid, because shock can kill you, and the stress of caring for you can bring harm to your companions. The last half mile of the Priest, I got severe leg cramps and started to get the shakes. Much of my suffering was avoidable and caused by a critical error: I left my water additive and chewable antacid tablets at home by accident. This is why redundancy is essential — these items should have been in the first aid kit, not just in my pocket. It was and is embarrassing as a self-defense and survival instructor to admit this mistake, but hard truths teach valuable lessons. Fortunately I had a granola bar (sugar) some beef jerky (salt) in my provisions which helped somewhat. But the calcium in the antacid tablets would’ve been perfect. Take it from me. Put a roll of antacid tablets and some restaurant salt and sugar packets in each of your first aid kits.

  • Wildwood: Follow your nose. During the hike down from the Priest on Sunday morning, my daughter began to run out of steam, and she was worried about how much farther we had to go. I was able to tell her that we were close to the 2/3 point of the descent because I caught a whiff of the Cripple Creek which was the 2/3 mark. I smelled it before I heard it. Smell is an underestimated sense in the survival and nature appreciation realm. It can help you find plants, prey animals, and water, and it can help you avoid predators too. Breathe deeply through your nose, then open your mouth and taste the air. Pay attention to the smell-scape. The easiest animals to detect with your nose are skunk, bobcat, feral cats and feral dogs. Work on it and you’ll get better. Humans can even learn to scent track, although not as well as dogs because we have fewer scent receptors. Read more here.

  • Spirit: Mind-body-spirit unity is no new-age joke. As I related above, a small mental mistake — forgetting my water additive and calcium supplement — had huge physical consequences during last weekend’s hike. Fortunately, although I’m way past my physical prime, I’m more spiritually fit than ever. Ashamed of my forgetfulness? Yes. Disappointed in my 60-year-old body? Oh yes. But I’m proud of the fact that few of the other hikers knew how badly I was suffering. Even during the darkest spots, I stayed calm, patient, and full of wonder. A living being is an ecosystem in which decisions have physical consequences, physical problems have mental and spiritual effects, and so on. Spiritual fitness is built through contemplation, meditation, prayer and sacred reading. Get there. For more inspiration, join us at Heritage Spirit for weekly online church.


Inspirational Quotes on Potential

“Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger. Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.” William James (letter to W. Lutoslawski, May 6th, 1906)

“You are capable of twenty times more than you think you are.” Mark Divine (8 Weeks to Sealfit, 2014)

“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.” Black Elk (The Missing Link: Teaching and Learning Critical Success Skills, 2014)

Heritage Arts Group Hike Video & Pics

Sunday 10/2/21 we completed the first ever Heritage Arts group hike — video and pics below. Since 10/2 is the Feast of the Guardian Angels, we did a little prayer service at the top which is in the video

Watch the event calendar and join us for our next group activity!

Group Hike Video & Pics

Interested in what you missed out on last week? Check it out below. And stay tuned for more events so that you can sign up and participate next time!

Group Hike: Mettle Maker #278

The view from the top of the Priest

The view from the top of the Priest

The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit — and is extra credit material for both our in-person and remote programs!

Group Hike: Mettle Maker #278

Today is the Heritage Arts Group Hike! If you can’t join us hiking the Priest today, then pick your own hike and get it done!

When you do your hike, you can focus on:

Self-Defense: Can you escape, self-rescue, cover ground while carrying a pack, and still have enough gas in the tank to defend yourself if need be? If that’s not self-defensey enough for you, watch the video below and do some of these exercises!

Fitness: Fit to do what? Fitness means different things to different folks. Depending on who you ask, it might mean looking good naked, being ready to compete in a specific sport, having a BMI in the ideal range, or who-knows-what. If you ask me, it means fit to fight and explore the outdoors, but I’m a martial arts and survival instructor — what do you expect? So ask yourself — what are you training for? What’s the point? And when you find out and/or decide, tailor your fitness program as needed. If you need assistance with doing this kind of analysis and implementation, sign up for the Heritage Fitness program. It’s totally free! We’re a non-profit, remember?

Wildwood: Go outside. How many hours a day do you spend outside? Are you outdoors every day, 12 months per year? Silly questions? Nope. Outdoor skills accrue the same way other skills do — slowly, incrementally, across time. Get outside every day. Keep a journal, and make a daily note about what you observed in your environment. Identify one plant, one bug, one kind of cloud, etc. and sketch it. Check the moon phase by observation, and write that down too. Want more? Sign up for the free Wildwood program.

Spirit: Mountains are special places. There’s a reason why so many spiritual tales and biblical stories take place atop or at the base of mountains. If you have never hiked to a peak, you can’t understand it. If you have, you know what I mean. Get there and understand first hand. Here’s a picture of the view from Sharp Top. For more inspiration, join us at Heritage Spirit for weekly online church.


Feast of St. Michael - 9/29/21

Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Feast of St. Michael, 9/29/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program.

If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.

You’ll notice a new painting on the wall behind the altar and some new stained glass. If you’d like to assist in the beautification of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.

Heritage Self-Defense Third Rank Advancements -- Congratulations!

Congratulations to Morgan, Jack and Allen who all passed the Midnight Quest trial last night, advanced to the rank of Initiate, and earned their blue bandanas in Heritage Self-Defense. Good job everyone!

There are only five ranks in Heritage Self-Defense, and Blue Bandana is the third — so these folks are well on their way to earning black bandanas. They tested themselves, and they tested each other. They looked inward, and now they can look outward in a new way.

They braved the dark so they can see the light.

Start your adventure today! Come out and train with us here in Richmond, VA or sign up for the Heritage Arts Hermit Path distance learning program. Everything we do is completely free (except for your sweat investment of course).

Holy Communion - 9/26/21

Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, 9/26/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program.

If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.

You’ll notice a new painting on the wall behind the altar and some new stained glass. If you’d like to assist in the beautification of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.

Nitty-Gritty: Mettle Maker #277

Note: The weekly mettle maker supports all of the Heritage Arts programs — Heritage Self-Defense, Heritage Wildwood, Heritage Fitness and Heritage Spirit.

Nitty-Gritty: Mettle Maker #277

  • Self-Defense: Nitty-gritty beats fancy-flashy every time. As you go into weapon week, ask yourself, “If I’m ever in a self-defense situation and there’s a loose weapon in the environment, could I get to it first, pick it up with skill and precision, and put it to use instantly?” Watch the video below and work your capture and retention drills. Want more martial arts? Join our free distance learning program or come train with us on Tues and Thurs nights from 6 - 7 PM at West End Manor Civic Association, 8600 Lakefront Drive, Richmond VA 23294.

  • Fitness: Fit to do what? Fitness means different things to different folks. Depending on who you ask, it might mean looking good naked, being ready to compete in a specific sport, having a BMI in the ideal range, or who-knows-what. If you ask me, it means fit to fight and explore the outdoors, but I’m a martial arts and survival instructor — what do you expect? So ask yourself — what are you training for? What’s the point? And when you find out and/or decide, tailor your fitness program as needed. If you need assistance with doing this kind of analysis and implementation, sign up for the Heritage Fitness program. It’s totally free! We’re a non-profit, remember?

  • Wildwood: Go outside. How many hours a day do you spend outside? Are you outdoors every day, 12 months per year? Silly questions? Nope. Outdoor skills accrue the same way other skills do — slowly, incrementally, across time. Get outside every day. Keep a journal, and make a daily note about what you observed in your environment. Identify one plant, one bug, one kind of cloud, etc. and sketch it. Check the moon phase by observation, and write that down too. Want more? Sign up for the free Wildwood program.

  • Spirit: How long is your rope? Is it long enough to reach the bottom of the well, or does it fall short? Is it long enough to draw up water to share with those who are thirsty? What water will you pour out into the world this week? What fiery pain will your water quench, what stain will it wash away, what wound will it cleanse? Meditate on this. Lengthen your rope and draw up much water to pour out into the world. For more inspiration, join us at Heritage Spirit for weekly online church.