The Journeys
Archery Season and the Love Story of God
Thousands of hunters across Pennsylvania will be trying to harvest a deer in the next two weeks.
Often, at the end of the season, archery hunters will tell their story from when their trail cameras went up in late summer to when they harvested the deer. Every hunter also enters into the story of the forest—from summer’s green leaves to autumn’s vastly colored landscape. The leaves of the trees slowly change color each day and eventually fall to the ground, changing the atmosphere of the forest.
This day-to-day attentiveness leads to an appreciation of the story of the archery hunting season.
Every archery hunter nods in agreement that archery season is a beautiful journey.
Similarly, the saints entered into a beautiful journey with God. The love story of God for His creation was one the saints wanted to know and be a part of. In other words, the saints were willing to enter the journey, similar to archery hunters, who are eager to enter the journey with persistent attentiveness.
The real beauty is that the archery hunter can have both the journey of the archery season and the journey of the love story with God.
Hunt from the tree stand. Pray in the tree stand. Let the two be together.
One of the easiest ways to combine hunting and prayer is to bring a small Bible in the hunting backpack or download a Bible app on the iPhone. The Holy Catholic Bible and King James Bible (KJV) are two recommended Bible apps.
Each archery hunter experiences the 5 minutes of settling into the tree stand. This time of entering into silence is an excellent opportunity to read the Bible and be open to spiritual attentiveness.
Begin with one of the four Gospels, which tells the good news of Jesus. Then, consider the book of Genesis, in which God creates the cosmos with order, beauty, and love. Afterward, look up from your reading—His creative work continues before your eyes in the forest.
As an archery hunter, win these 5 minutes of settling into the woods. Enter into both journeys (the archery season and the love story with God). Let the two journeys be together.
Fr. Luke Daghir
