Two Arrows

 

 

 

“It is very important to remember the shield of your faith; it can protect you from the arrows of your greatest enemy.” ~ Ephesians 6:16 (MCV)

Who is this enemy, and what do these arrows represent?

One story, first recorded around 397 AD, has been translated and told in various ways throughout history. It is a simple metaphor I find deeply helpful.

The Story

A man is walking in the woods when he is suddenly struck in the arm by an arrow. The pain is very real, and he begins to bleed.

Immediately, his mind begins to race. He worries about the future: Will this wound become infected? Will I lose my arm? Could the infection spread and kill me? Then, his thoughts shift to his family: How will they survive without me? Who shot me? Was it an act of malice or an accident?

The man becomes so preoccupied with these "what-ifs"—the things he doesn't know—that he delays seeking treatment for the actual wound. His preoccupation with the unknown becomes a second, far more dangerous, and more hurtful arrow. Had he simply accepted the reality of the first arrow and sought healing right away, the second arrow would not have caused so much unnecessary suffering.

The True Enemy: A Failure of Imagination

With this in mind, who is the "great enemy" introduced in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians? Who threatens our peace with the deadliest of arrows?

It is our own thoughts.

To understand this, we must realize that the "shield of faith" Paul speaks of and our "quiver of imagination" are one and the same. Faith is simply the substance of things hoped for; it is the act of imagining a future rooted in Love rather than fear. When we realize that faith and imagination are the same faculty, we stop seeing them as separate tools and start seeing them as the single force that shapes our reality.

Acceptance is not denial; it is simply remembering that we have this shield. Paul advises us to "take every thought captive"—to catch those thoughts that do not offer hope and bring them under control. Ultimately, it becomes clear that it is our own imagination we need to manage.

Ask yourself: Which arrow is causing my suffering? The arrows of life are inevitable, but the arrows of the imagination can be dipped in poison and shot inwardly. Or, we can choose to leave them in the quiver until we realize that hope—our faith—should be the only target.

Manna and the Target

Your imagination is a quiver full of arrows, and the target is always Love and righteousness. This same imagination is wasted when we use it to worry, to fret, or to cause harm. An ancient term for this—for missing the mark—is the word “sin.”

 

While some scholars argue there is no connection between the "Wilderness of Sin" mentioned in the Bible and the moral concept of "sin," I disagree.

What causes the desolation of the wilderness? It is this act of "missing the target." In that very wilderness, the people were offered manna—the "Bread from Heaven." Manna is literally translated as, "What is this?"

Today, thousands of years later, I want to tell you what it is: it is bliss.

Your wonderful human imagination can either harm you in the "Wilderness of Suffering" or lead you to healing. To act with faith is to aim your imagination at the target of bliss. To miss the target is to succumb to the misfire of that second arrow—to fret, to doubt, and to overthink.

Pick up the arrows of Manna—the joy that exists in the present moment—and with Love, take aim. When you do, you will hit the most important target in life, and you will finally begin to heal.