I love a mystery, don’t you? In this blog post, we will examine a verse that is commonly quoted by churchgoers regarding church attendance but seldom understood. It’s a mystery solved at the end of an arrow’s head as it searches for the subject’s bull’s-eye. It is time to call in the archer.
Archery is a very old sport that reportedly started in ancient Babylon. The bow and arrow were originally used for hunting and later became adapted to warfare. As time went on the skill of the bow spread to every civilization and became a major source of defence. During the 1500s in England, golf was banned as it took man’s time away from developing his archery skills. King Henry VIII even ordered men to practice such skills every Sunday after church.
As time marched forward, archery went from hunting to warfare and finally to sports competitions using a circular target. At the centre of the target, made up of concentric circles, is the gold section more commonly called the bull’s-eye.
The term “hit the bull’s-eye” actually meant to hit the golden centre of the target. Perhaps the most interesting and gross part of this traditional bull’s-eye, is that it comes from folklore which may in fact be historically accurate that early sports participants actually used to target the eyes of bulls. They would literally aim for the eye socket in a bull’s skull. The one who hit the most eyeballs won the competition. A rather grizzly thought isn’t it.
Continue reading “Church attendance (1): The subject’s bull’s-eye”