Set The Sight, Then Draw The Line

My eyes narrowed, the bowstring pulled tight, my focus on the big yellow bulls-eye. I loosed the arrow. To my chagrin the arrow didn't even hit the board. Again, the same thing. My third arrow, the same thing. Frustrated I stepped away from the line to let those waiting have their turn.

The instructor told us where to focus the tip of the arrow. He told us also that the bows had sights but we weren't going to get into that on that day. So here I was, my first attempt at archery in I don't know, 20 years, going with what the instructor told me...to the letter.

As I did what the instructor said, to the letter, I kept missing the target board completely.

Then I noticed that yes, there was indeed a perfectly good sight on that bow that I wasn't even using. I improvised.

The useful instruction that was given to me was aim lower than you think you should aim. So I set the sight on the bulls-eye and I drew a line with my arrow, lower. Pull back the bow, snap, THWACK the arrow was still off, but closer. Throughout the course of the lesson, I kept improvising using the sight, common sense, drawing the line with the tip of the arrow to a new section of the target board, each time, getting closer to the target.

My last set was impressive. I hit every color with the three arrows allotted. Then there was an extra arrow in the quiver so they let me finish it off. My last arrow of the day hit the yellow bulls-eye square on. Spectators were impressed.

I remember in my rigorous religious upbringing, following the instructions of my teachers and pastors to the letter. They were dead set on telling me to take everything literally and doing things exactly the way the Bible laid it out as though it were some formula from which I couldn't waiver. But I was so frustrated. I couldn't behave like the good Christian boy they wanted me to. The harder I tried to follow the instructions, the more frustrated I became and the more I missed.

I beat my head against the same wall over and over for many years, always trying to follow the formula and the precise directions they gave me, always coming up short.

Now, as those of us well-churched probably have heard, in archery, the term "sin" means missing the mark. On the archery range as well as in life I constantly missed the mark by following the laid out formula exactly to the letter.

It wasn't until I let go of the rigid instruction, went with my heart and common sense that I started aiming true and hitting my mark.

This, I believe is a great illustration of grace versus following the law and the letter of it. The more we try to accurately follow the letter of the law as many churches push, the more we miss and the more frustrated we become in missing the mark. The more we let ourselves free to follow moment by moment what Christ has already put in our hearts to do, the more we are apt not so "sin" or miss the mark.

There is no exact right way to hit the target. While an instructor or teacher can give you tips, it is up to us to figure it out, usually through trial and error, and listening to the loving guidance of our savior via His holy spirit. It is unpredictable. We may fail. In fact, we are guaranteed to fail to begin with. Following the letter of the instruction creates in us a false sense of safety, we somehow believe that if we follow it exactly that our future in success is secured. But nothing is certain. Nothing is secured in our ability. Failure is a grim guarantee in life. Accepting that and being at peace with that moves us forward. That is why Grace is there.

Once we find out what works for that particular target, as the instructor told me, is keep doing exactly what you did before, repeating and repeating, until the skill is perfected.

I believe Grace is the same way. It allows room for trial and error in learning and perfecting our skill on this spiritual journey. Much like perfecting my aim in archery, so it is with practicing righteousness. Grace doesn't tell us any right formula or rigid guidelines, it just gives us tips. It is up to us to walk it out, and no one man can tell us how. Set the sight, draw the line, pull back the bow, SNAP! Thwack! Repeat until you hit the target. Repeat.