Archery, Lent, and the Pursuit of Spiritual Precision

From The Pastor’s Desk—

Both Jen and I enjoy practicing archery. I’ve had a bow for years; one of the first things I bought just for myself, when I was finally old enough that my parents couldn’t forbid it (Disney’s “Robin Hood” had a profound impact on my generation). During the pandemic, when the world around us ground to a halt, I bought a bow for Jen and we whiled away many lovely spring and summer afternoons shooting at our target. While we have a great deal of fun, neither of us are ever going to make a run for Olympic medals. Getting good at archery means getting good at standing still, at doing the same motion in the same way, every single time.

When I took physics in high school, the teacher described the distinction between accuracy and precision. Something is accurate if it completes (or comes very close to completing) the action it is attempting; something is precise when it yields the same result, consistently. Things can be accurate and not very precise, such as hitting one bullseye and missing the mark with the rest of your arrows. Things can also be precise and not accurate, such as getting a consistent grouping of arrows that is “off the mark”. Thus, practicing archery is an attempt to build skill in both accuracy and precision

We will probably be close to Easter, or later, before it is warm enough for Jen and I to start shooting again. In the intervening months we will observe Lent, a time for us all to consider the efforts we put into the spiritual practices of prayer, self-reflection, fasting, and almsgiving. While these practices might not make us more accurate or precise, they do produce a deepening effect on our spirituality. They show us how much more deeply we are connected with the people around us than we might otherwise appreciate. 

So, as we prepare for Lent next month, I encourage you to consider where you might like to go and grow in the upcoming 40 days. What relationships do you want to deepen and strengthen? What others might you benefit from not investing as much time and energy in?

—Pastor Jon