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Mettlecraft Month is coming in November!
8th annual Mettlecraft Month is right around the corner. What’s this year’s challenge? I’ll give you a tip: Imperium Armorum. For those of you who are new to Mettlecraft Month, this is the month of the year where we focus on cultivating our mettle — our fighting aspect, physical endurance, unflagging determination, and resolute strength of body, mind and spirit. It never disappoints, so stay tuned.
Mettle maker #481: strong and wise
In my reinvigorated quest for exceptional grip strength, I rediscovered the incomparable John Brookfield. Years ago I read something by John ( think it was an article in Milo magazine perhaps) and for whatever reason, it just didn’t grab me. I thought he was just a genetic freak or something. I thought there’s no way his low-key training methods could possibly work. And besides, I was looking for high intensity action!
John Brookfield
But now that I’m older, wiser, and concerned about training smarter rather than harder, John’s material really appeals to me. Also, back then I was an iconoclast, and his open faith in Christ was a turn-off. But now that I’m a clergyman, this too is appealing. Check out John’s website and shop for his books at Ironmind.com.
So I embarked on a deep dive into John Brookfield, and I’ve started incorporating some of his methods into my regimen. Some of his stuff may find its way into Mettlecraft Month in a week or so.
Incredibly, the Zass isometrics have increased my grip strength by 40% in just over a month. I’m hoping John’s tips will get me another 40%.
Watch the video on the upper right and try these four Brookfield-inspired exercises (by the way the video is set to “unlisted” for now, so loyal blog followers are getting it early). I think you’ll be impressed with the exercises I lay out at the beginning, and as well as inspired by the rough ‘n’ tumble work ethic that John evinces in the the interview I’ve excerpted at the end. John’s “work capacity” approach to fitness really lines up with ours. Boy, does my tail start to wag when he starts to express how training mindset should mirror a manual laborer’s: the job must get done.
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Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time 10/26/25 – Father Mitch
Readings: Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18, Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18, Luke 18:9-14
Luke 18:9-14 World English Bible
Jesus spoke this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men: extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This week’s gospel reading is very likely the source of the famous Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” St. Ammonas of Egypt, a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is thought by many to be the first to advocate its use. In the book The Sayings of the Desert Fathers¹, written sometime in the 5th century, we read the following anecdote:
“[T]here was once a hard-working old man there who wore a mat.² He went to find Abba Ammonas, who, when he saw him wearing the mat, said to him, ‘This is no use to you.’ But the old man questioned him in the following way, ‘Three thoughts occupy me, either, should I wander in the deserts, or should I go to a foreign land where no-one knows me, or should I shut myself up in a cell without opening the door to anyone, eating only every second day.’ Abba Ammonas replied, ‘It is not right for you to do any of these three things. Rather, sit in your cell and eat a little every day, keeping the world of the publican always in your heart, and you may be saved.’
The “publican” or tax collector to whom St. Ammonas referred is of course the tax collected in our reading from Luke 18:13. The short and simple prayer of the publican, the Jesus Prayer, is a great bulwark against the assaults of the devil.
As soon as we start to feel annoyed or angry, and we sense our inner tension rising, we should stop and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Most of the time our frustration is caused by not getting what we want. We should use the Jesus Prayer to admit the sin of our disordered ego, accept forgiveness, and move forward in the peace of Christ.
When we are filled with guilt, anxiety or disappointment, we should stop and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” In this way we can admit our guilt, accept God’s forgiveness through the Jesus Prayer, and get a fresh start.
When we catch ourselves being tempted to sin, or if we realize that our minds are dwelling on disordered thoughts or desires, we can stop and pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” God’s forgiveness awaits all those who cry unto him in true repentance.
Excessive words are not necessary. We need not recite a memorized prayer or speak to God at length of our inner struggles. By being short and quickly spoken, either aloud or to oneself, the Jesus Prayer provides us with a sharp and easily deployed weapon against evil both without and within. This great prayer, revered in both the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, never fails to provide help to those who pray it’s twelve simple words.
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¹ The Greek alphabetical collection of The Sayings of the Desert Fathers was probably compiled in the late fifth or early sixth century. View an online copy translated into English by Benedicta Ward, SLG here: http://www.ldysinger.com/@texts/0400_apophth/greek_alph/00a_start.htm
² The desert fathers lived far outside civilization, often alone, absorbed in prayer and contemplation. Their possessions were few, such that they owned only one outer garment, a heavy cloak or mantel made of animal skins or woven palm fronds or rope, that doubled as a sleeping mat or prayer rug.