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What’s the weekly mettle maker?
Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.” Want to cultivate your rough ‘n’ tumble mettle? Complete one of our 100 Feats!
Mettle maker #474: HearT, PEN, AND TONGUE
CLICK THE PICK TO GO TO SMASHWORDS AND DOWNLOAD MITCH’S NEW BOOK
My newest ebook is out now. At the moment It’s available only in eBook format, and only on select websites. But the paperback version is in the works, and it’s making it’s way through the wires and tubes of the internet and will soon be available as an eBook virtually everywhere.
Why do I write? Well, it ain’t to get rich! Making a living as an author is as rare as being a billionaire. The six books I have on the market earn less than $50/month in royalties.
I write because I want to share thoughts and ideas that I think might be helpful to others. I write because the process of writing orders my thoughts and allows me to live and work effectively. I write because writing is thinking.
Yes, writing is thinking.
This is why journaling is central to all of Heritage Arts’ programs. That’s the framework. Layered on top of journaling is work. Consistent work. Not full-contact fighting, not crazy fitness regimens, or anything like that. Just consistent training — not just in martial arts, but also in real-world, outdoor endeavors, like hiking, survival, manual labor, and the traditional spiritual disciplines — that make you a whole person in the old-school mold.
Consistent training. What does that mean? Well, a few months back we put out one of our most popular videos, about the Fairbairn Chin Jab. Did you see it? Did you like it? Great! But did you add it to your training regimen? Do you throw it against your heavy bag, mix it into combos, and use it (at about 25% power of course!) in sparring and grappling? If you did train it, did you make notes in your training journal?
That’s what “consistent training” means. Watching is not training. Training is training. And if it ain’t in the journal, it didn’t happen.
That’s the heart and pen in this weekly mettle maker — for the tongue part, see this week’s homily.
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Homily for the Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time 9/7/25 – Father Mitch
Readings: Wisdom 9:13-18b, Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17, Philemon 9-10, 12-17, Luke 14:25-33
Luke 14:25-33 World English Bible
Now great multitudes were going with Jesus. He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard§ his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross and come after me, can’t be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks for conditions of peace. 33 So therefore, whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.”
The American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of sarcasm is, “A cutting, often ironic remark intended to express contempt or ridicule.” One of my favorite sarcastic remarks comes from Winston Churhill, the master of sarcasm. Remarking on the United States’ late entry into World War II he said, “"We can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities."
I admit I’ve always had a weakness for sarcasm. I have often remarked – sarcastically of course – that I’m “President of the National Sarcasm Society.” Most of us use sarcasm to vent our ill will, to be hurtful, or to get a laugh at someone else’s expense. Some years ago, thank goodness, I realized that I wasn’t using sarcasm for the benefit of others, but to be nasty. So I started eliminating it from my speech and from my writing. But once in a while, when used to make a point with someone who’s being deliberately hardheaded, tactical sarcasm cuts deep enough to sting – and hit home.
In John 10:32 Jesus hits them with a real zinger. He says, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning me?” And In Luke 23:3, Jesus makes my favorite sarcastic remark of all. Pilate asks him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” and Jesus answers, “You have said so.” Isn’t this like a modern person saying, “You said it, not me”? How sarcastic can you get?
In today’s reading his sarcasm once again cuts to the heart of the matter. We know the central message of his Gospel is love. So why does he say that whoever doesn’t hate or disdain his family cannot follow him? Why does he say that we have to embrace a grisly death to learn from him? He’s being extreme to make a point. He’s insisting that the foundation of our discipleship is our ability to follow his example, not the example of our human families. Morality comes first – loyalty to God – not blood ties.
He says, “Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross and come after me, can’t be my disciple.” We’ve heard this, read this, so many times, that it might not seem as outrageous as it must have been at the time. Remember, he said these things before his Resurrection. With hindsight, it’s clear – to us! – that Jesus is saying that we need to die to our old selves and be reborn in Christ. With hindsight, we understand that if we sacrifice our petty selfishness, we might gain eternal life. But there was no way for anyone in Jesus’ time to interpret his shocking words as we do today. Imagine somebody saying, “Okay boys and girls, my class meets in the gas chamber. Who’s coming?”
Next he gives examples of people who are ridiculed or embarrassed by making stupid mistakes, then suggests that we would be equally foolish if we even considered becoming his disciple without first renouncing our possessions. Jesus is not kidding. He means what he says and says what he means. He really does expect us to stop imitating our relatives and imitate him instead. He really does expect us to stop putting faith in family ties to provide happy, materially successful lives, and put our faith in God instead.
He really does expect us to put aside our focus on getting and spending and turn our eyes toward the treasures of heaven.
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§14:26 or, hate