There is nothing in the world more powerful than words. Words are an expression of thought and ideas which can be so powerful as to even wield the power of life and death.  Words are often misused, intentionally and unintentionally, with varying degrees of consequence.  I believe there are words commonly used to describe hunting which are misleading and fall far short of defining the truth of what hunting really is.  Hunting is often described as a “sport” or “hobby”, but both words are misrepresentative in my opinion.  The words sport and hobby imply an activity, or worse a game, which is only undertaken for the fun and enjoyment of the participants but is ultimately unnecessary and lacking any nature of importance or seriousness. While many aspects of hunting are certainly fun and enjoyable, these words leave out the reality that hunting is above all a responsibility undertaken, and at times, a burden assumed. 

Our family eats meat as does nearly 9 out of every 10 people in the world.  Whether we like it or not, animals must be killed if we are to eat meat. Life eats life, it is the way of things.  In today’s modern world, most people are completely removed and insulated from the unpleasant and burdensome aspects of killing and processing animals to obtain food.  We live in an age where we can simply pay a stranger to bear these burdens for us.  Consequently, we can purchase and enjoy eating meat having no interaction with the animal while it’s alive, and take no responsibility for its death beyond paying the price at the register. Hunters choose to be responsible, at least in part, for the killing that is necessary in order to eat meat.  Hunting is not a game.  At its core, hunting is about life and the resources required to sustain it. 

On many levels, hunting is just plain difficult.  Taking on the responsibility to provide meat from a wild animal for oneself and others involves some aspects that are at a minimum unpleasant but at times quite a heavy burden.  As a starting point, the hunter’s burden can be described with a four-letter word, W-O-R-K.  Granted, this work is also enjoyable in a sense but it is a demand on the hunter’s life nonetheless.  Consistent success as a hunter requires a significant outlay of time, effort, discomfort, physical, mental, and emotional energy, and yes, even suffering.  More burdensome yet for many hunters is the act of killing itself.  Contrary to how it may seem to some, most hunters do not enjoy the act of killing.  There is a heaviness that comes with stopping a beating heart. We kill not because we enjoy killing, but because it is necessary. Paradoxically, I’ve observed that the difficulty in killing seems to be most poignant in the very immature and the very mature hunter.  The immature because he has little or no experience with the emotions that accompany killing, and the mature because he can increasingly relate to the fragility of the life he is taking as he moves closer to the end of his own.  The hunter must also face the pain and disappointment which accompany failures big and small: long stretches of effort with no success, opportunities squandered due to some miniscule mistake after hours, days, months or even years of grueling effort, and finally, the worst and most dreaded pain of all, a shot gone awry resulting in a wounded animal.  The difficulties hunters face are very real and can be almost unbearable at times.

For the ethical hunter, these difficulties are worth enduring in order to have provided for self and others, while having done so in a manner which allowed the animal to live out its life in absolute freedom.  Understandably, because we live in a world where we have the luxury to eat meat even if we choose not to hunt, most people will never see the burdensome aspects of hunting or be able to understand and sympathize with the hunter’s periodic anguish. As a member of the hunting community, particularly the tracking community, I have seen and experienced it firsthand. 

Naturally, I think, it is not the hunter’s struggle which is put on display, it is the hunter’s joy and celebration of a successful hunt most often shared in pictures and videos.  These images can be easily misinterpreted. How could they be so happy about killing such a beautiful creature? Admittedly, I can see how easily one can come to the conclusion that hunters hunt because they enjoy killing.  It is because they are missing all of the context. The joy expressed comes not from killing, but from the gratitude (I hope) for His provision and from the satisfaction of having accomplished something necessary, worthwhile, and so difficult it can seem nearly impossible at times.  Would a picture of a smiling, happy family gathered around a thanksgiving turkey elicit the same response? Most likely not, but animals were killed in both instances.  It is just that the turkey was killed with a checkbook. The reality is that the person buying a turkey at the store has sentenced a different turkey to death in order to replace the one they have purchased. Both the shopper and the hunter have killed, both have consumed a life to sustain their own, it’s just that one has done so directly while the other has hired it done.  

Now if I may, for a brief moment, I will dig a bit deeper and explore the spiritual truth contained in the concept of “life eating life” for my Christian brothers and sisters, or anyone who may have an interest in such things.  Imagine for a moment, we find ourselves in the situation which the disciples found themselves in at the Last Supper when Christ commanded them to eat His body and drink His blood.  Obviously our Lord was not calling them to literal cannibalism, but what sort of man commands his friends to eat his body and drink his blood even symbolically? Would we not find that extremely odd? As He often did, Jesus used a physical truth to teach a spiritual truth.  The truth that physical life must consume other physical life in order to continue living mirrors the truth that our spirit must consume and internalize His Spirit if we are to have spiritual life, and what’s more, have it abundantly and unendingly.  

The consistency between the cycle of physical life, the death necessary to sustain it, and the life and death of Christ is stunning.  One life dies, becoming a resource absorbed by, and transforming the life which consumes it.  Our bodies are made and transformed by the very plant and animal matter we consume.  Literally, we are what we eat.  So it is also with Christ.  His Spirit alone contains the resources required to transform and sustain our souls.  Through His death, His life has been made available to us and we must be transformed by it lest we starve to death.  

May I come back to what I said in the beginning?  There is nothing in the world more powerful than words.  So powerful in fact that Christ told us there are some we simply cannot live without:

 “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

Now then, living on words is also quite an odd thing to consider.  But perhaps not so odd really when looked at another way. Consider the inseparable relationship between God and His words, also known as “the Word“:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  (John 1:1)

This enigmatic verse deserves the type of thorough exploration the length of which only a book could accommodate. That will have to wait for now, as it is not my intent for this writing. In time. Very well then, for our current purposes, it will have to suffice to say that He is clear with us that His words deliver the fuel we are made to run on, the very food our soul requires, namely, Himself. This being the case, there are conclusions regarding our relationship with words which should compel us in a couple of continual practices. First, we ought to be consuming His words with the voracity of one whose life depends on it, and second, we ought to be earnestly scrutinizing the quality of our entire diet. For knowing “we are what we eat”, it follows that we are always transforming into something more like what it is we consume, or else something less like what it is, or rather Who it is, we do not.

Look closely.  

Do you see them? The fingerprints.  Not those belonging to Judah, the five year old farmer who sowed the seed, those belonging to the Giver who brought the clover into being.  

Listen closely.  

When asked in earnest who taught it how it ought to behave, how, and when, it should burst forth from its seed, fight through the heavy earth above, send its roots down below, and stretch itself towards the light of life, it has its answer. This tiny sprout, though small in stature, with deafening volume bespeaks the infinite power and divine nature of the Giver.  It does not force its proclamation on any man, for one must first choose to listen in order to hear its song.  For those that do, it is among the sweetest and happiest sounds to be heard.  Indeed, the Truth rings out in a perfect symphony from this humble, yet gloriously magnificent, tiny sprout of clover.  

With hopeful anticipation, we pray the sprout will be put to good use by the taker which the small farmer intended, and perhaps this fall it may be Given a second time.  It will have been transformed, yet still sing that same perfect song heard by all those who listen, ringing forth from the heavenly venison we so long to share at our table. 

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.” – Romans 1:20

It is quite obvious that a painting does not paint itself and its very existence reveals the existence of an artist.  One does not have to watch the artist at his work, or see his face, or touch his garment to know he exists, the painting has already told you, and that is reason enough.  This is so intuitive that without much controversy it could be said, as in the verse above; anyone presented with a painting who denies the existence of an artist would be “without excuse” for doing so.  Beyond proving his existence, the painting may very well tell you many things about the artist; perhaps the degree of his talent, the preferences of his color palette, and likely, what is beautiful to him.  It is the nature of paintings to make known qualities of the artist which would otherwise remain invisible.

As with paintings, the natural world makes visible the invisible, and lays bare the existence of its Artist.  The natural world has been painted with the primary colors of God’s palette.  His workmanship, in the same way as primary colors, may be manipulated, transformed, combined, altered, and put to use by man, but never re-created by our hands.  We may be quite proficient at turning trees into houses, but we cannot turn a house back into a tree any more than we can turn orange back into red and yellow.  There is some workmanship of which only the Artist is capable.  

Jesus demonstrated the importance of beholding the natural world.  He would “…often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (Luke 5:16), surrounding Himself with the primary colors of creation and seeking solitude from all except the Father.  By removing Himself from city, town, and crowd, He entered the artwork to get close to, and focus on, the Artist.

The artwork is all around, albeit far less prevalent in cities than wilderness (hence my aversion to cities).  It may be clearly seen, and its proclamation of the Artist clearly heard, by all who choose to listen.  So then, when asked what reason I have for believing in a God I cannot see, I must answer with another, more pressing question. When I behold the primary colors of creation or listen intently to the sound of none other than this tiny sprout of clover, what excuse have I, for not?

Foreword:

Halfway through writing this, I encountered something I did not expect.  While attending church one Sunday, the pastor not only preached on the same topic of light, he used the very analogy from which I had derived the title of this piece.  My reaction was threefold.  First, I was pleasantly surprised that he was covering the same topic.  Second, I was increasingly surprised and amazed that he used the exact same analogy, for it is one that I had never heard anyone else use before (not to say that they haven’t, only to say that I had never heard it).  Lastly, I was left wondering how I could continue my writing and share it without being seen as a plagiarist by others who were also blessed to hear his excellent preaching.  The effect of this “coincidence” was layered.  While it was encouraging to hear that my writing (or at least part of it) was consistent with that of this respected pastor, it also took the wind out of my sails for this piece of writing for the aforementioned reason.  But, one thing we know to be true of wind is that it never stalls for long.  After asking God for guidance, it became clear that my concern of perceived plagiarism was akin to a sailor lowering his sails and refusing to be moved by the same wind driving another boat onward, for fear that he may be perceived to have “stolen” another’s wind.  Clearly, one does not own the wind, and therefore it cannot be stolen.  Neither sailor created the wind, they are only being moved by it.  It is like that here.  God moves through people like the wind, pushing us on towards our destination so long as we put up our sails and allow it.  Who am I to refuse the Wind?  Back up goes the sail, and once again I am pushed onward…

He Is the Son. We Are the Moon.

Despite the sun having made its nightly retreat hours prior, we steadily made our way through the woods unaided by any artificial light.  The full moon in the clear sky, reflecting the light of the sun from the far side of the world, was shining on the blanket of deep snow, illuminating the timberland that would have otherwise been cloaked by the darkness typical of the hour.  We quietly moved ahead along the narrow, winding path to the place where my arrow encountered its intended resistance.  With temperatures plummeting below zero that late January night, we were on a mission to track and recover the buck that had eluded me since mid-November.  Shortly after arriving at the place where he was met with the arrow, my stress level rose quickly.  Amidst the labyrinth of tracks in the snow, we struggled to find any indication of his path of retreat.  With fading light, and so many deer scattering in different directions as the shot interrupted the evening’s silence, I had lost track of him during the hurried dispersal.  Eventually, minute specks of red on the white snow revealed themselves to Kevin’s careful, discriminating eye.  Slowly and methodically he read the nearly invisible and largely uncooperative sign as he progressed the hauntingly difficult track.  Just as I had resigned myself to postponing the search until daylight, my rapidly increasing negativity and exasperation turned into that ever-welcome, overwhelming flood of happiness every hunter craves.  With skills as sharp as the finely honed blade awaiting its work in my pack, Kevin found him, he was down, and he had not gone far. Hugs, smiles, and prayers of thanksgiving ensued as we admired the creature who had been the object of my pursuit for the last two months.  Having been subject to the back surgeon’s scalpel just four months prior, I mostly watched as Kevin and Brandon labored under the painful weight of the mature buck hanging from the small tree trunk across their shoulders.  The deer wasn’t theirs, yet they bore its burden out of their love for a friend.  Indeed, this wasn’t the first time the crushing weight of a tree had been borne out of love for me.    

The moon wasn’t the only thing reflecting light into a dark world that night.  While the moon was reflecting the light of the sun, Kevin and Brandon were reflecting the light of the Son.  They had sacrificed their time, sleep, warmth, and comfort to help their friend in a time of need.  It may have been nighttime, but Jesus was shining bright as midday as we made our way out of the woods that night.  

Just as the sun, that monstrous inferno of fire in the sky, is the source of all physical light, life and warmth on earth, the Son is the source of all spiritual light, life, and love.  In the sun’s absence, cold, darkness, and death quickly follow.   Without Jesus, the physical manifestation of God, who is light and love (1 John 1:5, 1 John 4:16), there is only spiritual darkness, evil, and death.  The importance of fire to our world, namely in the form of the sun, cannot be overstated. No sun, no plants, no animals, no people.  It is this fire that gives life.  Lesser forms of flame also lend their live-giving support.  Experts agree, fire in a wilderness survival situation is one of the most essential ingredients to a person’s physical, and mental well-being.  Fire provides light, warmth, and protection from hungry predators lurking in the dark seeking something, or someone, to devour.  Fire also purifies. Subjecting meat and water to the heat of fire makes it safe to consume. The life-sustaining importance of fire in the physical sense is paralleled by the spiritual significance of fire.  Fire is used repeatedly in scripture to describe God Himself, and He even reveals Himself to men as such.  He spoke to Moses through the flames of that burning, resilient bush and He appeared to the Israelites as a pillar of fire, guiding them to the promised land by night.  John the Baptist speaks of Jesus baptizing people with the Holy Spirit and fire. When given earnest contemplation, surely something written deep within us recognizes the divine mystery and necessity of fire, for it gives life to both body and spirit.   So, it would seem to me that perhaps my love affair with, and insistence upon, the presence of a wood burning fireplace in our home may be well warranted, in more ways than one.

Until very recently in human history, the flame was the only source of supplemental light in the dark, and it is light that is the focus of this writing.  Scripture tells us that “…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)  He is pure light, and pure light is blinding.  It is for this reason we cannot look directly at the sun, and why Paul was blinded by the light of Jesus on the road to Damascus.  While we are not the source of spiritual light in the world, we are all called by the Son, to be a full moon, a mirror, and reflect His pure light to one another. 

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 5: 14-16

We must first take note that a lamp cannot light itself, it must be brought to life, and into its purpose, by an external flame.  Jesus is the eternal flame that lights the lamp, and He does not want it hidden.  We exist to give light to all in His house, to be a full moon on a dark night.  Each night without fail, the earth turns away from the sun, causing darkness to descend on the land.  In the same way, darkness falls on the hearts of man when we turn away from the Son.  To be a full moon, we must not let anything in this world come between us and our view of the Son, lest we burn less bright.  Thought of another way, a dirty mirror reflects less light, and with less accuracy, the image of its Maker.  Just as the full moon on that January night kept us on the narrow, faint trail leading to that cherished, yet temporary source of physical sustenance, we are to be a lamp unto each other’s feet, guiding each other along the righteous path that leads to the eternal source of spiritual sustenance, our “…Father who is in heaven.”.  

In addition to light, there is, and always has been, spiritual darkness in our world.  I have pondered much lately about the relationship between good and evil and have found it easiest to understand the nature of this relationship in terms of light and dark.  What is interesting about studying good and evil in these terms is that light (goodness) is the thing that actually has a source while darkness (evil) has no source, it is fundamentally, and only, an absence of light. Darkness is brought about by a lack, while light is brought about as an overflow, an abundance, flowing forth from its source.  Where light exists, there is no darkness.  Unless sufficiently obstructed, light will always overpower and eliminate darkness.   Without much effort, we know this to be true.  If we light a candle in a dark room, the darkness is pushed back in direct measure to the amount of light from the flame.  Whether small candle, or blazing torch, darkness has no choice in the matter.  When it encounters light, it will immediately and unequivocally flee.  The devil himself is no braver, and shrinks back with no less rapidity when confronted by the Light. He likewise is not granted a choice, his very nature prohibits him such a luxury. 

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

Take note of the order. First, we are to submit ourselves to God, then resist the devil. We must first wipe clean the mirror, push the world aside to allow the moon its full solar gaze, and allow the Master to light our lamp so we may drive the darkness from His house. 

To be sure, no man is completely devoid of darkness.  A man is wise to recognize the darkness within himself and the ever present possibility that he may act on it, and the likelihood that he already has, to some degree, by the time he eats his breakfast.  It is quite easy to recognize the darkness in another, it is a good deal more difficult to recognize it in ourselves.  The war between good and evil, light and dark is real and ever-present inside ourselves.  The gravest of dangers lies in fighting the darkness we see in others with the darkness inside ourselves, thinking all the while we are on the side of good.  Darkness, by nature, cannot be overcome by more darkness.  It must be fought, conquered, and eliminated with light.  Evil acts are a manifestation of emptiness from people that are lacking love and light and it is most often hurt-people, who hurt people.  They are empty vessels in need of filling, although as we will see shortly, they may choose to remain empty.  Surely Jesus called us to love our enemies, but make no mistake, He does not call us to love everything our enemies do.  Evil should not be condoned in any form under the guise of “loving” one another, or ourselves for that matter.   Jesus unequivocally held people accountable for their sins, often quite boldly, but never with hatred, for it was the most loving thing He could do.  We would do well to remember the wise old adage, “Hate the sin, love the sinner”.

As a result of this spiritual darkness, there is no denying that horrible atrocities of evil are perpetrated every single day.  Many people struggle with the notion that a good and loving God would allow this wicked darkness to exist, and therefore deduce that He is either not a good, loving God, or He doesn’t exist.  It is a fair question, and one that plagued me in my youth.  The reconciliation between a God who is love and light and the evil darkness lurking in our world is found when we consider that when love is forced, it ceases to be love.  Love is voluntary, which accounts entirely for why it is meaningful.  Suppose a man builds and programs a robot in order that it will “love” him just as he wishes.  Can he truly feel loved by his creation?  Would not the love of his spouse, albeit imperfect, who chooses to love him until death do them part mean infinitely more? Of course.  God could have created people that would “love” Him without a choice in the matter, but that would by definition not be love, and therefore be meaningless.  The truth is, He first chose to love us, and He has granted us the choice to love Him back, or reject Him if we wish.  We can either keep the shades drawn tight and remain in darkness doing things as we please, or throw them wide and allow the Light to enter our house.  The sun will not force its way into your window, you are free to deny or grant its entry to your liking.  The same freedom is afforded to you by the Son, in order that by having a choice in the matter, you will therefore have the opportunity to experience love, in its purest form. 

Should you choose to let Him in, all you have to lose is what you believe now to be yourself.  Upon entering the house, His light will reveal things perhaps long hidden.  Shadows will flee, and He may then begin the process of rearranging, removing, and restoring the house to its intended order.  Uncomfortable though it may be at first, in time you will see that He has put your house in more perfect order, and with a wholly distinctive style that is quite surprisingly more, not less, your own.  If the Son is allowed to do His work, you may very well find yourself living in a house you no longer recognize, yet feel more at home than ever before. It is then, your house will not be able to contain the Light which has filled it, and it will be ablaze with the radiance of that glorious, eternal, Holy Flame which has always been, and will never stop burning.  

Do not be surprised if some late winter night, a weary traveler, with steps guided by moonlight, has labored to your door through the deep snow and up the hill on which they saw your house glowing from afar.  Perhaps exhausted and nearly frozen to death, they will have come seeking the warmth, sustenance, and hope of life promised by the smoke of your hearth.  Once inside, the traveler will finally find rest as they are bathed in the Light and Warmth of your Companion, who not only joins you by the fire, He is the fire Himself. What unspeakable joy when the traveler comes to know He has been there burning bright all the while, patiently waiting for His beloved child to come home. 

Salt of the earth.  

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been particularly fond of this phrase and aspired to be a man fitting of the description.  My earliest memories of this character-descriptive reveal my mom using it with a strong admiration for the person on the receiving end of the compliment.  As a young boy, I adopted a similar respect and appreciation for these words. Saying someone was “salt of the earth” was not a compliment I tossed around casually, it was reserved only for those rare individuals whose character I deemed worthy.  It was, in my mind, a position of honor and admiration for the kind of man I aspired to be someday. “He’s salt of the earth.”, I would say with a look and tone of ultimate approval. 

So, what did my calling someone “salt of the earth” say about them?  In my youth, it represented that man that was untainted by modern society and was still solidly anchored to what I innately knew were fundamental tenets of manhood. They were good, honest, hard-working, men with an independent spirit that was so attractive I could recognize it immediately, even at a young age. I could sense that something about them had been preserved and not lost to “progress”.  The best example I might give the reader with which they may be familiar, is to call to mind a man akin to the famous mountain man character Jeremiah Johnson. In this classic movie, Jeremiah Johnson ventures into the Rocky Mountains after fighting in the Mexican-American War to become a trapper and pursue a life of peace and solitude.  After struggling to survive the harsh realities of mountain living, formerly ill-equipped Jeremiah becomes a proficient hunter and trapper with the help of his eccentric friend Bear Claw, an experienced mountain man that takes him under his wing.  Without Bear Claw’s intervention and teaching, Jeremiah surely would have perished. Once Jeremiah learns the skills necessary to fend for himself, he sets out on his own.  Along his journey to find solitude through a self-sustaining life, he finds himself paying it forward helping widows, orphans, woebegone mountain men, army commanders, and stranded settlers.  Contrary to his plans, he even becomes the head of a family, loving and caring for his Native American wife Swan and adopted orphan son Caleb.  Jeremiah initially set out to be able to “do for self” but quickly realized that his eventual independence was only possible through dependence on another, dependence on a savior you might say.  Ultimately that independence along with his skills, strength, and bravery allowed him to care for and “do for others”.  Growing up, this was my idea of what it meant to be salt of the earth. To be the salt of the earth was to be useful, to be able to do and provide for yourself so that you could do and provide for others. Perhaps this is partly why I have become such a passionate bowhunter.  It is an activity that has been preserved for the entirety of human history and one that is timelessly useful.  Hunting puts food on the table.  Hunters are providers and we are able to independently “provide for self” so we can provide for others.  

From my own childhood, I will share about a man that iconified what it meant to me back then to be the salt of the earth.  Russ Seitner was a hard working farmer and a man that could fix anything. His hands were thickened from years of farm work and perpetually stained with dirt and grease. Those hands were proof of the life he led, one of hard work, usefulness, and fixing what once was broken. Russ was our Bear Claw.  He was the man we called when something needed fixing on JR Farm and we didn’t know what to do. Russ always knew what to do, and I always knew when Russ showed up, something was about to be set right.

Despite being a rough and rugged farmer, Russ was also perfectly gentle, kind and encouraging to me as a young boy.  With gravel in his voice, he would draw out his familiar greeting, “Heyyyyy Jakey.” Something as simple as this let me know that he noticed me, and I was important to him.  I loved to watch him work as he brought things back to life, back into order, back into being useful once more.  Anyone that knew Russ would agree that he was not a small man, but to me, he was larger than life.

As a late teen, a few years after JR Farm was sold, I felt drawn to go and visit Russ at his home.  This was something I had never done before, and something largely out of character for me to do. Perhaps I had just missed seeing him the last few years, or perhaps now that I was not a young boy I wanted to talk to Russ “man to man” as I prepared to set out into the world. While I can’t remember exactly what we talked about that day, I’ll never forget spending that time with Russ and the way he made me feel. Somehow, I felt that some kind of intangible transfer had taken place. I left Russ’ house that day feeling more like a man (I use that term loosely at that point in my life). Masculinity bestows masculinity, and this was one of the moments in my life when I had been on the receiving end of that transfer. I walked out of Russ’ house that day standing a bit taller with my shoulders back, knowing one of my boyhood heroes approved of me. I felt more prepared to strike out into the world.  Russ was the “salt of the earth”, and over the years he had seasoned me.  He had brought out in me more of who I truly was.

Fast forward about 20 years and my fondness for the phrase has deepened as my understanding of its original meaning has increased.  This comes as no surprise really when I consider the infinite depths of its source.  Jesus is the one who first spoke these enigmatic words.  A couple of weeks ago after finishing my “daily crucifixion” (also known as my morning workout) I sat down and opened my Bible to Mathew and read the beatitudes followed by Jesus’ teaching about salt and light. “You are the salt of the earth” He says, and it was as if I had just read these words for the first time.  As is often the case when the Father has something He really wants you to grasp, the words leaped off the page and took root deep in my soul.   

Mathew 5: 13-16

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Wow.  Salt of the earth.  After reading the words that morning I thought of how much I have always loved them but I couldn’t help but wonder, why salt? At first glance, salt of the earth seems like an odd analogy for Jesus to use to describe His followers.  However, upon further inspection we can uncover what He means. Most obviously He seems to be referring to the use of salt as a seasoning since He refers to salt as having a taste (or a disappointing lack thereof).  He is saying we are the seasoning of the earth.  Interesting.  What does it mean to be the seasoning of the earth?  It is here I feel it would be helpful to share an excerpt from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. I would note that while Mr. Lewis is not speaking about Jesus’ salt of the earth analogy directly, I believe he reveals what Jesus expects of us by describing how He acts as the salt and seasoning of our souls.  

“Or again, suppose a person who knew nothing about salt. You give him a pinch to taste and he experiences a particular strong, sharp taste. You then tell him that in your country people use salt in all their cookery. Might he not reply ‘In that case I suppose all your dishes taste exactly the same: because the taste of that stuff you have just given me is so strong that it will kill the taste of everything else.’ But you and I know that the real effect of salt is exactly the opposite. So far from killing the taste of the egg and the tripe and the cabbage, it actually brings it out. They do not show their real taste till you have added the salt. (Of course, as I warned you, this is not really a very good illustration, because you can, after all, kill the other tastes by putting in too much salt, whereas you cannot kill the taste of a human personality by putting in too much Christ. I am doing the best I can.) 

It is something like that with Christ and us. The more we get what we now call ‘ourselves’ out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. There is so much of Him that millions and millions of ‘little Christs’, all different, will still be too few to express Him fully.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins: 2001) 223-225.

As Mr. Lewis eloquently points out, seasoning with salt in the right amount can bring out the true flavor of a dish, making it more of itself, not less.  Salt is used to make foods better and to express their “real taste”. So it should be with us. As the salt of the earth we are to help Jesus bring out the best in those around us by allowing Him to bring out the best (Himself) in us.  We are to be seasoned by the Master Chef first if we are to help season the earth.  When we allow Him to season us by getting “‘ourselves’ out of the way and letting Him take us over” we become the salt of the earth.  We are all unique expressions of His infinite personality and expressing Him to each other brings out our “real taste”, our true flavors, our true selves, as He created us to be.  

Jesus also uses some strong language in regards to salt that has “lost its taste”.  He says that it is no longer useful and it might as well be discarded and trampled under people’s feet.  Jesus is pretty clear here that He wants and expects us to be useful for the Kingdom. I take this to mean that we are to live a life of bold flavor letting our “light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (verse 16)  The essence of what Jesus is saying is that a Christian who is unwilling to live their faith in the open for all to see is like salt that has lost its flavor.  It is of no use and will surely be trampled under society’s feet.  To be clear, He is not talking about prideful religious displays to glorify one’s self, He is talking about living in a way that humbly points others towards the glory of the true source of salt and light “your Father who is in heaven.”   

Another reason Jesus compares His followers to salt may be that another practical use of salt is as a preservative to prevent meat from spoiling.  As a hunter, I have a keen interest in preserving the meat from an animal I’ve harvested.  In today’s world this is accomplished mainly through refrigeration, however, salt was and still is a viable antidote to decay and spoilage.  This would have been a common practice in Jesus’ day.  Salt draws the moisture out of the meat, preventing bacteria from being able to grow and cause the meat to spoil and rot.  Could it be that Jesus is saying that we are called to help prevent one another from spoiling and rotting morally and spiritually?  I believe so.  Without intervention it is human nature and therefore the tendency of culture and society to “go bad” and fall into moral decay.  Evil is always at the door and the war against darkness is real and must be fought.  Evil and darkness cause the decay and breakdown of the moral muscle fibers of society.  As the salt of the earth, we are called to be the antidote.  We are called to wage war against the darkness, shine our light, and preserve that which is good and of the Light.  

Oh how I desire to be a man fit to be called the salt of the earth by my Father in heaven. To be the salt is to be useful to His Kingdom and a blessing to others.  To be the salt is to be the seasoning of the earth, bringing out Christ, the best and “real taste” in those around me.  To be the salt is to be the antidote to evil and darkness in our world. I am deeply thankful for all of those in my life that have lived out Jesus’ calling to be the salt of the earth.  They are those that have intervened and shown me the righteous path.  Most of all, I am thankful for Jesus, the ultimate Bear Claw, the Master Chef, that rough and rugged yet gentle Carpenter who is, and always will be, the salt of my soul and the One that if I allow, brings out my true flavor.  

We hunt because it is another world we crave.  A world untainted, untamed, and uninterrupted by man’s clumsy attempts to put things in our order, to control and “improve” it. A world where it is an intrinsic impossibility for anything to be out of order.  Everything is as it should be, in its proper place at the proper time, purely because it is as it happens to be. In pure wilderness, whether small woodlot or vast mountain range, there are no mistakes and nothing is out of its rightful place.  Upon entering such a place, our soul slowly exhales as it is flooded with gratitude mixed with a sort of relief, reflexively uttering with an inward smile “Lord I love this.”

This wild world exists even when we aren’t in its midst, and our spirit beckons us to return to it, knowing it is still there, still carrying on, still waiting for us.  Whether near or far, it is outside of our “home”, yet it is strangely familiar, it stirs in us that ancient remembrance of that Garden we once knew. As our boots softly tread the fallen leaves, fertile dirt, and flowing streams, we undoubtedly remain connected to the earth, but our souls seem to have reconnected with something separate, with something more real, and if we allow, with Someone greater.

As hunters we crave a certain experience in this wild world.  We may say we desire the solitude and absence from our societal existence and this is no doubt true, but upon further inspection, it is not so much the absence we seek so much as a different kind of presence.  We long to be in the presence of the wild creatures we pursue.  We crave this presence so much so we are willing to go to a great amount of effort to enter their world in a way that allows us to be in close proximity to them. We want to spend time with them in their natural habitat, observing them carry out their daily activities unmolested by our secret intrusion.  

One can’t help but feel the privilege of beholding a beautiful animal such as a whitetail deer carrying on about its business in its natural habitat, close enough to hear them walking, eating, breathing.  Think for a moment of the feeling you get when you catch that first glimpse of a deer that materializes seemingly from nowhere. In their presence, everything changes. Your heart quickens, your eyes widen, and your spirit jumps to its feet. This intoxicating presence is not possible unless we are absent from our societal world; we must be “other worldly”.   

To each creature, their own habitat.  To each creature their own world within the world.  The earth is filled with countless “other worlds”, each unique, each the proper habitat for a certain type of creature.  By its design, a habitat provides all that is necessary for a creature to live. It is hospitable to the creature, for it was designed to meet its needs.  The creature lacks nothing in its proper habitat.

Consider the human habitat.  Without much effort, one might think of a place where our physical needs for air, water, food, shelter, and preferably a temperate climate are met. But thinking of the human habitat in this way is like saying a butterfly needs only to be able to crawl around munching leaves as it did in its pre-winged, worm-like caterpillar existence.  To say that a butterfly need not go to the trouble of using its wings to take to the air, would be to deny it’s true nature and keep it from experiencing its true habitat.

The trouble with us humans is that we go about living our lives as caterpillars.  We limit ourselves to a life of crawling around feeding on the leaves of this world, never taking flight into that bigger and truer habitat to feed on the sweet nectar of God.  “God was our original habitat and our hearts cannot feel but at home when they enter again that ancient and beautiful abode.”, says Tozer. The great realization we must all come to if we are to truly live is that we are more at home in the spiritual world than in the physical world.  “God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24). Because of the atoning work of Jesus, we can walk in the garden of God, with God, at any moment we choose. We can enter the garden, seeking His presence, which changes everything.

Hunting for God’s presence is similar to hunting on earth in that it requires stillness.  “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) There is a sign hanging in my house that says “Make time for the quiet moments, as God whispers but the world is loud”.  If we are to know Him and enter our Blessed Habitat, we must make time to be still and wait on Him. He will show up, for if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).  Notice we first must draw near to Him and then He will draw near to us.  We must first be “other worldly”.  Because He is spirit we must enter the spiritual world to find Him, and allow Him to find us.  Our souls must take flight from the physical life into the Garden Life where He can be found.

Being in His presence is where we are most at home and where we will hear Him speak to us.  Tozer puts it this way:

“I think for the average person the progression will be something like this:  First a sound as of a Presence walking in the garden. Then a Voice, more intelligible, but still far from clear.  Then the happy moment when the Spirit begins to illuminate the Scriptures, and that which had been only a sound, or at best a voice, now becomes an intelligible word, warm and intimate and clear as the word of a dear friend.  Then will come life and light, and best of all, ability to see and rest in and embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and All.”

We seek to enter and enjoy the absence and presence available to us in the wild gardens of this earth and occasionally (seemingly all too rare) we are able to partake in this pleasure.  Let’s not settle for these periodic, ever too few, excursions into these wild worlds. Let’s not settle for these physical representations of the Garden Life available to the soul. Let’s enter the ever available Garden Life, our Blessed Habitat, and draw near to experience the Presence, the voice of the One we call Home.

Shooting a bow is hard.  Hunting with a bow is harder.  Because it is hard and requires a lot of work, bow hunting takes an incredible amount of self-discipline to be successful.  Consistent success must be earned. To be a consistently successful bow hunter quality archery form must be developed and maintained on a regular basis.  Knowledge of the game animal’s senses, behavior, anatomy, and habitat must be thorough. Stealth of movement, scent, and sound must be without mistake. Equipment must be scrutinized to be sure it is appropriate, dependable, organized, and in good repair.  Access to productive properties away from excessive hunting pressure must be secured (private land and limited entry public land) or discovered (over-the-counter public land). Weather conditions, time of year, and their effect on hunting conditions and game movement must be evaluated and considered.  Even after all of these factors have been addressed and accounted for, the unpredictability of wild animals can cause failure to strike even the most disciplined bow hunter. There’s nothing about it that’s easy, and that’s why we love it.

Bowhunting in the mountains adds another level of difficulty because it requires such significant physical output.  I’ve been elk hunting twice, once in Montana and once in Idaho. As a whitetail hunter coming from probably one of the flattest places on earth, northwest Ohio, the mountains are tough!  I had to prepare my body to handle the challenge of mountain hunting. I spent a lot of time training physically before my trips so I would be strong enough to handle the terrain.

There’s a huge movement towards fitness in bowhunting which I think is a very positive thing.  I believe disciplining ourselves mentally, physically, and nutritionally to become the best hunters we can be is helpful, positive, and important.  However, I do not believe the application of self-discipline to achieve hunting success is where we should stop. Hunting success is not the finish line, it is not the True Target.  I believe its greatest value is as a training ground for spiritual growth, spiritual warfare, and ultimately spiritual victory. I want to harness this hunting-derived self-discipline and use it to fuel much more than victory on the hunt; I want it to fuel my victory on the spiritual Hunt.  

Self-discipline is inherently difficult.  We’ve all set goals and made commitments to ourselves that require self-discipline, only to fail to follow through on our own good intentions. One moment we’re all fired up and motivated to reach our goals and another we’re telling ourselves it’s OK to compromise our self-discipline, as if we never felt it was important.  I notice that I feel like two totally different people at times, one strong and one weak. No matter how much I tell myself I’m not going to compromise even the slightest bit, some believable excuse arises that keeps me doing the same things I despise doing and vowed never to do again. Sound familiar? Lord knows I struggle with this.  I’ve often felt like Paul who said:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” – Romans 7:15

Have you ever considered in those moments of weakness that there is someone inside you that is separate from the you that is committed to doing the right thing?  In the Bible, the sinful, weak, and selfish part of us is called the “flesh” or the “self”. Both represent our selfishness and sin. Interestingly, if we drop the “h” off the word “flesh” and spell it backwards it spells “self”.  There are such things as discipline and self-discipline, and they are necessary, because of that person inside of us that is not concerned with doing what is right.  Paul goes on to say:

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” – Romans 7:18-20

Notice he says “…it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”  Paul makes a clear distinction between his sin, flesh, or self, and who he truly is.  He no longer identifies with his sinful flesh, it is not who he is!  Why? Because “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

He also puts it this way:

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Romans 7:24  

When you decide to follow, and are “in Christ”, you are a new person, you are the True You.  You are as the Creator intended, you are a new “creation”. Paul’s “True You” serves God, his flesh serves sin.  When we follow Jesus, we no longer have to identify with our selfish flesh and we can get to the business of killing it on a daily basis as Jesus commanded:

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.’” – Luke 9:23-24

Freedom from selfishness and sin is what He invites us into when He says deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me. Taking up our cross means crucifying our selfishness.  Jesus was very clear, this is something we have to do every day.  Stop and think about what it means to be crucified.  Crucifixion is extremely violent and brutal. He doesn’t say it will always be easy to follow Him, it will be hard!  We are invited to follow the ultimate Warrior down the Warpath, not Mr. Nice Guy down Easy Street. Jesus is the toughest, strongest, most disciplined man who ever lived. He lived a perfectly disciplined, unselfish life. He’s the definition of strength and the antithesis of weakness.  He was meek, not weak, meaning He submitted Himself fully to the Father, not men. He fought and won the war perfectly against His flesh and Satan, the two battlefronts we all face. He doesn’t say, come follow me, and struggle no more. Quite the opposite, He is inviting us into the Blessed Struggle in order to reach the green pastures peaceful streams.  We need to embrace the Blessed Struggle and stop expecting life, especially the Christian life, to require nothing of us. It takes discipline to be his disciple. Interestingly, the words discipline and disciple are both derived from the Latin word discipulus meaning “pupil”. Consider what Jesus said:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” – Matthew 7:13-14

The narrow and righteous path is not the easy route, it is for the disciplined not the lazy. Our difficulties and our journey don’t end when we decide to follow Jesus.  That’s when we take up our cross, that’s when we take up the Warpath and the correct battle really begins. If a man wants to be a masculine, tough, strong man, he should look no further than Christianity to test his mettle.  Following Jesus is not for the weak of spirit, it requires greater strength and self-discipline than any self-centered pursuit ever will.

As long as we are in this world, we will have to war against the sinful flesh living inside of us.  Our voluntary crucifixion of self is not a once and done activity, it’s a daily activity. This is part of the reason I find it beneficial to work out first thing in the morning.  It’s well known that physical exercise in the morning makes your whole day better because you have more energy and are in better spirits all day. I find it hard to deny the benefit of physical self-discipline as it relates spiritual self-discipline.  I believe that “crucifying” my physical body first thing every day helps me conquer my selfishness and unleash the fruits of the Spirit. Listen to how Paul speaks to the importance of disciplining the body:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.  – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Life is a race we are all running, but not all will receive the prize.  In fact, some deny there is a finish line while others run after only that which perishes rather than the Imperishable Wreath of  eternal life. Paul is telling us to run the right way that we may receive the Imperishable Wreath! Running is not easy, you can’t be lazy and run at the same time.  It takes a lot of effort, it takes self-discipline. He says to run with an aim, run towards the true finish line, run to the One that Matters. All pursuits other than pursuing Him are perishable, fading, temporary.  I love hunting and I’m proud of my successes but as much as I enjoy looking at my deer mounts, I recognize they are perishable wreaths.

Paul said he disciplined his body to keep it under control.  We can use physical self-discipline as an analogical training ground for spiritual self-discipline.  Physical exercise is a great opportunity to develop spiritual self-discipline because you have to decide to go against your body’s natural desire to be comfortable.  When my physical flesh cries out to stop during a workout, I recognize the weakness in my body. I acknowledge the feeling of wanting to quit because something is hard, and I keep going anyway. I try to think about what He endured for me when I’m doing my workouts.  I tell myself that He didn’t give in even though he could have stopped it all. He made the choice to endure that horrible suffering and never quit.  He made a decision to deny Himself escape from torture by staying focused on earning for us, the Imperishable Wreath.  

Self-discipline is not about earning what He’s done for me, it’s about recognizing my selfishness throughout the day when it arises then deciding to crush it and deny it, even when I don’t feel like it. Disciplining myself with physical things such as my diet and exercise are good practice and helpful reminders to deny my sinful nature in other situations.  I’ll use getting my kids ready for bed as an example. When it is getting late and I’m tired and out of patience for their procrastination, I try to recognize my selfishness coming to the surface. Rather than lose my temper, I try to deny my self-centered, negative emotions and address the situation with calm assertiveness, even though I don’t feel like it.

Jocko Willink says “Discipline Equals Freedom”.  I say, “Amen”. Self-discipline equals freedom from our selfishness.  Let me be clear here that Jesus’ self-discipline, not ours, equals our freedom from eternal punishment, it is our free ticket into heaven, paid for by Him.  Our self-discipline on earth equals freedom from our selfishness, producing fruit, multiplying what we’ve been given, and leading others towards the Imperishable Wreath, eternal freedom through Jesus. Yes, discipline does indeed equal freedom, and it produces delicious fruit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” – Galatians 5:22-24

The fruits of the Spirit come through self-discipline, by crucifying the flesh along with its passions and desires.  The opposite is true if we refuse to crucify and deny our flesh and we indulge in the passions and desires of our selfishness:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:20-21

Self-discipline is indeed the Blessed Opposite. In the Bible, it is usually the opposite of our natural inclinations that are rewarded. Consider this dichotomy; self-discipline is controlling my flesh by giving up control of my agenda to God. Get control by giving up control.  Become free by enslaving (disciplining) yourself (flesh).  Lose your life to keep it. Put yourself last to be first. Become poor to be rich. Be humble to be exalted. Love your enemies and bless those who curse you!  

It can be difficult to understand how all of these opposites are more than self-punishment that will make us miserable.  How will I ever be happy if all I do is the opposite of what I think will make me happy? The Blessed Opposite sounds more like slavery than freedom and it often doesn’t sound like much fun.  That’s why we are often undisciplined, selfish people. However, this is a childish mindset. A baby is born with no self-discipline whatsoever and is dependent on the discipline of the parent to learn how to control themselves. Maturing is the act of moving away from selfishness. Our goal is 100% selflessness, and that’s Jesus.  We admire those among us who are the most selfless and sacrifice themselves for others. We honor above all those beautiful souls who laid down their lives so that others may live. Just as a well disciplined body is naturally more attractive, a disciplined life is attractive and beautiful. So it should be with Christians and why our lives are to be well disciplined, to attract others to Him.

Consider this; there is a direct relationship between our selfishness and our misery. Likewise, there is a direct relationship between our unselfishness (self-discipline) and our joy and happiness. Think about it. When are we unhappy? When things don’t go our way. When we don’t get what we want.  When we want to be doing something we like instead of doing what someone else likes.  When people don’t meet our expectations. Our unhappiness is almost always related to our selfishness.

I find it helpful to think of it this way.  There is a man inside of me named “Self”. Self is a man that craves indulgences and what feels good at the moment with no regard for the long term effects.  Self is a man that puts his needs in front of the needs of others. Self is a man that wants complete control of all things at all times so that he gets what he wants, always.  Self is a man that becomes angry when his agenda is interrupted. Self is very proud of himself, he is the opposite of humble. Self has no use for God, because he thinks he can handle things on his own, and besides, he doesn’t want to share any of the credit.  Self has no concept of self-discipline, so Self must be controlled externally. Self must be disciplined by someone else.  Self must be controlled or else he will control and destroy me and harm those around me.  There’s only One strong enough to destroy Self living inside of me, but I must give Him permission daily to strike the fatal blow.  Simply put by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

Given the depth and importance of this subject and my difficulty in articulating it, I feel compelled at this point in my writing to pass the baton to an inspired soul that can more accurately, eloquently, and succinctly describe what I’ve clumsily attempted to impart.  What follows is an excerpt from my favorite book, by my favorite author, CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity. Enjoy.

“The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.”

Both harder and easier than what we are all trying to do. You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, “Take up your Cross”—in other words, it is like going to be beaten to death in a concentration camp. Next minute he says, “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” He means both. And one can just see why both are true.

Teachers will tell you that the laziest boy in the class is the one who works hardest in the end. They mean this. If you give two boys, say, a proposition in geometry to do, the one who is prepared to take trouble will try to understand it. The lazy boy will try to learn it by heart because, for the moment, that needs less effort. But six months later, when they are preparing for an exam, that lazy boy is doing hours and hours of miserable drudgery over things the other boy understands, and positively enjoys, in a few minutes. Laziness means more work in the long run. Or look at it this way. In a battle, or in mountain climbing, there is often one thing which it takes a lot of pluck to do; but it is also, in the long run, the safest thing to do. If you funk it, you will find yourself, hours later, in far worse danger. The cowardly thing is also the most dangerous thing.

It is like that here. The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call ‘ourselves’, to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be ‘good’. We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way—centred on money or pleasure or ambition—and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And that is exactly what Christ warned us you could not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown.

That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it.  It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.  And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.  And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings, coming in out of the wind.

We can only do it for moments at first.  But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us.  It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. He never talked vague, idealistic gas.  When He said, ‘Be perfect,’ He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder—in fact, it is impossible.  It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg.  We must be hatched or go bad.

May I come back to what I said before?  This is the whole of Christianity. There is nothing else”

So the question is, are we ready and willing every day to do the opposite of what we try do as hunters; are we ready and willing to chase away the “wild animals” so we can Hunt for Him instead?

Meet Arrow, the Bowman with a knack for finding what once was lost.

Arrow is a handsome European Standard Dachshund born on August 18th, 2018. Arrow (formerly Erik) was bred by John Willmore and Diane Webb in Seattle, WA. John and Diane own Arrow’s dam Bossa, who was born on the island of Gotland, Sweden before being brought to the United States. Bossa’s sire and dam are both Swedish Champions and she is a highly decorated AKC competitor. You can learn more about Bossa on John and Diane’s website:

http://www.doxifun.com/dogs/bossa/

Arrow’s sire Teo was born in Denmark before being brought to the United States in 2014. He was first owned by Patt Nance of Ohio (http://www.fieldworthy.com/ ) and is now owned by Patty Rothhaar. Patty and Teo also live in Ohio and aren’t too far from us. Teo is a successful tracking dog used to recover wounded deer. You can learn more about Teo on John and Diane’s website:

http://www.doxifun.com/dogs/bossa/Teo.php

We made the decision to buy a tracking dog because of my daughter Eliza.  What follows is the story of how a very special girl sparked the welcoming of a very special longhaired dachshund we call “Arrow” into the Handful of Bowmans (http://faithfullyflawless.com/).  

Eliza has always had a love and passion for dogs.  She turned 6 years old in February and she’s been doing agility classes with our standard poodle Alice for the last several years.  Growing up in a family with lots of different pets, she’s always had a special affinity for the K-9 variety.

Eliza accompanied me on a track this November when I wounded a buck and utilized the help of my friend Chris and his tracking dog, a Deutsch-Drahtaar, for the first time.  She was so interested in watching the dog work, she stayed out with me and my friends several hours past dark looking for him, never complaining or asking to go back to the house.  My little girl has grit! Through trail camera photos, I was able to determine that the deer survived. Although I didn’t find a nice buck at the end of the track that night, I found something of much greater value, a unique outdoors activity that my daughter and I could do together and both really enjoy.

It didn’t hit me right away that I wanted to have a tracking dog of our own, that thought started during a game of “hunting” I was playing with the kids one night. When we play hunting, everyone has a role. My sons Judah and Ezra take turns with me being either the hunter or the deer (or elk, or bear, or moose, or you name the animal).  My oldest daughter Cora is always the pack horse or pack goat. As for Eliza, she is always, well, you guessed it, the tracking dog. The divine Seed of Inspiration was planted that night while watching Eliza track Judah’s imaginary blood trail. The roots have been growing deeper ever since.

I’m always looking for opportunities to find things that my children and I can enjoy together and that make them feel special and unique.  It became clear after that night of play that this was one of those opportunities. The funny thing is, I was adamant just a few months before that we were not going to get another dog.  We lost our Havanese, Gidget, to old age that summer and considering that we owned two horses, a pony, a standard poodle, two rabbits, and two guinea pigs, my answer to the question that hadn’t even been asked yet was “We are not getting another dog, so don’t even ask me.”  Yet not my will, but Yours be done.

After a lot of discussion and research, Mary and I decided that a Dachshund may be a great option for us.  In the European Standard Dachshunds we found a breed of excellent scenting ability, small stature, family friendly disposition, and very minimal shedding.  Providence connected us with Patt Nance who kindly dedicated an entire Saturday to coming up to meet us, answer our questions, educate us, and ultimately connect us with John Willmore and Diane Webb.  Drawing from her extensive expertise with the breed and her knowledge of the kind of dog we were looking for, Patt strongly encouraged us to consider Arrow as an option. Wisely, Patt waited until we were thoroughly enamored with the idea to explain that dogs with his caliber of breeding aren’t easy to find.  She encouraged us to be opened minded before telling us where Arrow lived, on the opposite side of the country, in Seattle, Washington. In time it became crystal clear, the Good Lord laid a track for me to follow; all the way from Findlay, OH to Seattle, WA.

As I landed in Seattle that Saturday afternoon, the kids thought I was in Dayton, OH on a rabbit hunt with my dad and brother.  Little did they know, I was on a hunt for something much more significant. John and Arrow picked me up from the airport and I got to spend a little time walking Arrow on a beautiful beach near their home before meeting the rest of the Viking litter.  I was impressed and enamored with Arrow right away and equally impressed by the rest of John and Diane’s K9 family.

Not to be outdone by the dogs, John and Diane demonstrated a quality of character, hospitality, and generosity that left me feeling incredibly grateful to be welcomed into the home of such wonderful people.  Undoubtedly, they are deeply passionate and knowledgeable about their dogs and the breed. It was a joy to listen to them share their experiences and patiently answer all of my questions. The effort they put in to raising quality puppies  was evident in every detail of how they cared for them. The pups were healthy, social, and started very well on housetraining and obedience. John prepared a delicious meal we shared together which was much appreciated after a long day of travel. My appreciation for them continued to grow at the pups’ mealtime when I saw the effort they put into feeding the dogs a quality diet.  I couldn’t imagine better people to buy a puppy from. Thank you John and Diane. Thank you Lord.

The next morning was an early one filled with anticipation.  Arrow and I had a long day of travel ahead, and I wasn’t sure how he would handle staying in his crate for that long.  He was a star traveler, hardly made a peep. I knew back at home there were four little kids who had no idea what was about to happen when Dad got home tonight, and I had a plan.  I came in the door empty handed explaining to the kids that it was a fun hunt, but we didn’t see any rabbits. That is, we didn’t see any until the very end when I saw one run down into a rabbit hole.  So what do I do when I see a rabbit go down a hole? Why, I showed them how I reached my arm down that hole all the way to my shoulder until I just barely got a hold of that rabbit, and pulled it out! You can imagine their curiosity mixed with unbelief when I told them I had it out in the car and asked if they wanted to see it.  I’ll never forget the momentary look of utter shock on their faces followed by complete joy and excitement when I pulled that rabbit out from under my coat! Welcome home, and welcome to The Handful, Mr. Bowman Arrow.

A target is something we aim for, we focus on, a goal, a point of completion and finality.  A target creates the opportunity for evaluating accuracy. In order to be accurate, I have to know what I’m aiming for, I need a target.  To hit the mark, I have to define the mark. Once I know what I’m aiming for, I have to be able to execute the shot well.

As a bowhunter, I practice all year trying to perfect my archery form and posture to improve my ability to hit where I’m aiming.  I want to know, not hope, that when I release an arrow towards an animal, it will go exactly where I want it to go. Mastering shot execution in high pressure situations is a real challenge.  Most of us have experienced target panic or “buck fever” in some form, I know I have. It’s not easy to hit the mark in those situations, it takes a lot of discipline and hard work to overcome the pressure and anticipation of such a raw, intense moment.  Daily dedication to quality archery posture and technique is the best way to improve your ability to hit where you’re aiming. There is no replacement for disciplined commitment to refining your posture and shot process.

As in archery, I believe there is a target I should be aiming my life towards.  Regardless of whether or not we are aiming at the right target, the wrong target, or we think there is no target, our life will reach the end of the range and we will be evaluated for accuracy.  Despite popular belief, we will all be judged by our ability to hit the same bullseye. If after we die we are to be welcomed into heaven by a perfectly holy and just God, we must live a perfect life, one completely devoid of sin.  Interestingly, “sin” comes from an archery term that means “to miss the mark”!

The bad news is, no matter how hard you try, no matter how disciplined you are, it’s impossible for you to hit the bullseye. No human being is without sin because we’ve all given in to selfishness in some form.  We’ve all sinned, all missed the mark, whether we think we are a good person or not, doesn’t change the fact that it’s impossible for us to live a perfect life. On our own, not one of us deserves to go to heaven, no matter how hard we try to make the perfect shot, we’ve already missed.  

There has only been One to hit the bullseye, to make the perfect shot.  He is the strongest and most disciplined man to ever live. His name? Jesus.

Jesus was fully man and fully God, and He lived a perfectly selfless life, not a single sin to be found. Because he lived the perfect life, He was able to pay the debt we owed for our sin. What are the wages (debt) of our sin? Death. Jesus took the proverbial bullet for us. He willingly endured brutal torture and death by crucifixion, to save you and me.  We deserve what happened to Him. All he asks in return is to believe in Him, and receive His gift.  The good news is, when we believe in Him and acknowledge we need Him to save us from death, then His arrow, in the dead center of the bullseye, is counted as ours.  He made the shot, we get the credit, if only we believe.

So then the question is not what we should be aiming for in life, but rather Who we should be aiming for.  The True Target never changes, there is only One.  The simplicity is beautiful! When I shoot my bow, there are an infinite number of points in the surrounding environment I could select as my focus, as my aiming point.  But, I select only one, very small, very specific point and I block out all the rest. I know what I am to focus on, and the rest of my surroundings don’t enter my consciousness.  I’ve experienced intense tunnel vision when bowhunting. When I’ve decided an animal is one I’m going to take, my focus is laser-like, there are no other thoughts intruding into my mind other than my target.   I’m not thinking about work, money, being hungry or thirsty, or anything other than hitting the perfect spot.

So it should be with pursuing Him, hunting for Him and His presence.  He is the One, the True Target, and all I need to focus on. What a Blessed Narrowing. If I aim my life towards Him with proper soul posture, I will be living the life I was created to live, and everything on the peripheral will be as it should be.  As CS Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth, and you get neither.” Aiming for Him requires a humble soul posture. Humility is the opposite of pride. A prideful soul posture aims for earthly things and earthly recognition for earthly accomplishments. A humble soul posture is thankful for His accomplishment.

When I aim for Him, I am not consumed with the worries of this world, I’m consumed by His peace. I have set my mind on things above, gotten my head in the clouds, exactly where it belongs.  Blessed simplicity, singularity of purpose, and the answer to all questions can be found in the One. Life is not complicated. Aim for Him, the rest will be thrown in.

Planting season is just around the corner.  Green will soon be the dominant color on the landscape again, chasing away the browns, tans, and muted earth tones of winter.  Blue skies are advancing, grey skies are retreating. Personally, I prefer the colder temperatures, the ability to see deer sign clearly, working on habitat improvements and hanging stands without sweating profusely, and most of all, the absence of mosquitoes.  I’m one of those odd people that enjoy the barren, cold blanket of winter. I’d rather sit by the fire than sit by the pool.

Still, I welcome spring.  It is a time of growth and multiplying.  Spring is necessary to bring forth new life and to revitalize those that survived the lack brought about by winter.  The deer need green food to browse on, crops need planted, and newborn wildlife need a hospitable environment to survive and thrive.  

Many of us are focused on planning and planting summer food plots this time of year to help improve our hunting properties. We want to keep deer on our property and provide them with great nutrition, particularly while the does are nursing fawns and bucks are growing their antlers.

Growing anything well requires good soil.  Good soil needs to have the proper pH, nutrient content, moisture content, depth, and be free from weeds. It takes a lot of work to prepare a productive seed bed. Unwanted plants must be ripped up, plowed under, destroyed. They must be killed so the desirable plants can live, produce fruit, and multiply. Hardened soil must be disturbed, plowed, torn apart, and exposed to the light to become good soil. After all this violent disruption, the soil is ready to receive the seed and produce fruit for all to enjoy.

I want to be good soil.  I want my life to “…bear fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:20).  Becoming good soil isn’t a comfortable process and can be very painful, but what a blessed disruption.  The thorns in my life must be ripped out and killed. These thorns are “…the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things…” (Mark 4:19).  Thorns are violent and should be battled as such. Thorns don’t give up easily. Some are rooted so deeply, we can’t get rid of them on our own, we need help from Him, the Gardener of our soul.  He won’t trespass against our will, we must surrender, unlock the gate, and allow Him to do His work. And allow Him we should. No matter how much it hurts, healing will come and the soil will be restored.  If left in place, the thorns will occupy the soil and choke out the precious Seed. His Word is the precious Seed and the beginning of all life. It is the Seed of all seeds, the Seed of life, from which all life grows, the source of life from the very beginning:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” – John 1:1

Along with removing the thorns in my life, I must have the depth of soil necessary to bury, protect, and sustain the Seed as it takes root.  Shallow soil won’t do. Shallow, weak faith won’t multiply, it won’t persevere during tribulation and persecution, it won’t bear fruit, it will let the Seed wither and die (Mark 4:6).  Nor will shallow soil protect the Seed from Satan, he will easily pluck it away (Mark 4:15).

Faith, like soil, is deepened by disruption.  It’s the times when my life is not going smoothly that bring me closer to Him.  These are the times He has his hand on the plow, He is working the ground, and preparing the Seedbed.  I welcome the Blessed Disruption. Adversity, suffering, struggle, discipline. These things I embrace, they deepen the soil.

Hunt for Him is not about me.  Hunt for Him is about Him.

Having said that, you may still want to know something about the man He inspired to create Hunt for Him.  My name is Jake Bowman and I’m completely, and ever increasingly, in love with my beautiful wife Mary and we have four precious children together, Cora, Eliza, Judah and Ezra. “You’ve got your hands full!” is something we hear on almost a daily basis. Together, we’ve embraced this observation from outsiders and affectionately call ourselves the “Handful of Bowmans”. The true meaning of this for us is that we are a handful because we are held in His hand. The handful is His, and because of this, we not only have our hands full, we have our hearts full.

As my last name conveniently implies, I’m passionate about archery, bowhunting, and the outdoors.  Hunt for Him exists in response to His calling to inspire others to pursue Him above all else, to Hunt for Him.  Ultimately, the best way to tell you who I am is to share with you my number one Priority in life.

In life, like building a house, the foundation must come first.  The foundation is the most important part of the house, and First things must come first.  The bigger and stronger the foundation, the bigger and stronger the rest of the house will be.  When the foundation is strong and First things are put first, second things aren’t diminished, they are increased.  Christianity is the foundation of my life. Why? Because after asking and honestly investigating the hardest questions I could possibly ask, I’ve found that Christianity offers the most reasonable and logical explanation of why I exist and what will happen after I die.  It may seem odd to some but I think about death daily. Thinking about my own inevitable death has shaped my priorities more than anything else.  For me, thinking about my death melts away all of the facets of this existence that are not important. Death reveals what matters in life. Death shows me what I should be aiming for, it shows me the True Target at the end of life’s range. Confronting my mortality forces the question, what really matters?  What (or rather Who) should be the aim of my life?

There was a time when I was as skeptical as any other non-Christian and although I still experience times of doubt like most believers, I’ve decided to plant my soul’s flag here. Truth be known, no matter what you believe, you are exercising faith and you must decide where to plant your flag.  First, I believe there is sufficient historical and factual evidence that Christianity is the true explanation of existence and second, what do I have to lose? If Christianity isn’t true, I’ve lost nothing, if it is, I’ve gained Everything.  

For this reason, I’m passionate about providing a fresh perspective of Jesus that people can connect with, particularly men. I see a lot men who have been led to believe that to be a Christian they have to become boring, weak, passive and feminine.  Somehow there has been a misconception in our culture that Jesus was passive and weak. How completely untrue this is! Jesus was meek, which is the opposite of weak. More on this topic later. So, who I am flows completely from my first Priority and my identity is in the One who made me. I am the clay, He is the Artist.  My number one priority is to allow the Artist to finish His work and be pleased with what He has made.

With Christianity as my foundation and focus, my marriage is my next priority followed by my children.  I can sum up my priorities up this way:

The best thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother, and the best thing he can do for their mother is to love God.  

Life is really pretty simple, aim at loving God above all else, He will take care of the rest.