Aiming at the target

I first shot a real arrow on the archery range at Camp Pellissippi, the Boy Scout camp in eastern Tennessee where I spent a week each summer during my adolescence. It was a real bow and a real arrow, and it was not as easy as I thought it would be. Straining to get enough force behind the arrow as the bowstring is pulled back while maintaining a steady hand to keep the arrow on the target — is no easy feat. Alas, archery was not a merit badge I ever earned!

As summer winds down, I recall that experience for another reason. Whether beginning a new school year or any new journey, it serves as a good image of something important in the Christian life. Saint Paul alludes to it in a brief, few lines in his letter to the Philippians: “Finally, my brothers, your thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise. Live according to what you have learned and accepted, what you have heard me say and seen me do. Then will the God of peace be with you.” (Phil 4:8-9)

Essentially, Saint Paul is confirming what we can know by experience; namely, that what we think about becomes our target in life. If we think about good things, it is more likely that we will choose good things and do good things. Thought precedes action. But, like shooting a real bow and arrow, it is not as easy as one might think. One must train oneself with discipline and practice and develop a kind of inner strength to master holy thinking so that one can set out in holy doing. One must want to hit the target and one must know that there is a target.

One of the greatest treasures of our Catholic faith is that it introduces us to “all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise.” These things are revealed fully in Jesus, but also in the lives of his saints, the teaching of the Church, the sacred Liturgy and in works of art, literature, music, architecture, etc. But we can also find some of these good and holy things in other, often unexpected places. The good news is that there is a target to which we can direct our lives and find true peace and real joy.

This admonition of Saint Paul is perhaps more relevant today than ever. Most of us are saturated with technology and media that work, in part, to distract us from the target, which is why we often are left without peace. Life without a clear target is scattered and a scattered life is a restless, anxious life. And who would describe much of the fare on social media as true, deserving respect, honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous and worthy of praise?

There are almost unlimited ways to act on Saint Paul’s advice about directing our thoughts to the right target: through prayer, Scripture, Mass, good books, nature, conversation within family, etc. When we begin something new, let’s take time to check our thinking. Take time to find our target.