The Broken Bow
04/12/21 22:19
Early in the Nephite story, as a small group of people fled Jerusalem across the wilderness of Arabia, they suffered a potential catastrophe when a steel hunting bow broke. It belonged to one of the protagonists in the story, a young father named Nephi. It happened while he and his older brothers were out hunting for food at the end of a sustained trek. The loss of his bow was compounded by the fact his brothers’ wooden bows had lost their tensile strength.
I looked up to see why a wood bow would lose its strength. Apparently high heat and humidity which exists where they were traveling, will cause the wood to “set” and deform the bow so it loses its pull weight. Likewise, a steel bow used constantly in heat and humid conditions can develop micro fractures and break. Given the state of their metal working technology, it’s not surprising that it would also fail under constant use.
Their route of travel was South-southwest through a narrow strip of land along the Western shore of the Arabian peninsula. The shore is impassably rocky, but inland the route was well travelled and known today as the “Frankincense Trail.” It was probably towards the more desolate Southern end of this trail where Nephi’s bow broke.
This presented a life-threatening problem for them and displays the value of the experience. Consider the context. They’re in the middle of a fatiguing, multi-year long trek. There are probably expecting mothers in the party. There are no near by grocery stores or markets. Apparently, Nephi’s brothers’ bows were already unusable, and now his bow on which the party was depending has broken. Dire straights indeed.
So, what happens?
Nephi tells of two responses to the situation. One group complained to God about the unfairness of what happened. Included in the group, at least for a short time, was Nephi’s father, the leader of the expedition. The other group, which at least consisted of Nephi, decided to get to work and act.
Rather than complain, he analyzed the problem and came to the stark conclusion that if he couldn’t hunt, they would die. He knows the best tool for hunting was a bow and arrow. So, he made a bow and some arrows. He did what he could do.
Then in what I feel was a master stroke of humility and wisdom, he got his father back on board and into the problem solving mode by asking him to ask God where he Nephi should go to hunt. He respected the authority of his father’s position as leader of the family. Chastened, his father asks God and God told him where to go and look for food.
Nephi uses this information and succeeds in getting food for the family. Those are words you can live by in any situation, life threatening or no.
Nephi did:
1. Objectively identified the problem. Without a bow, I can’t hunt to get food. Without father as leader, the party will break apart. Both consequences are be catastrophic.
2. Defined the solution. Make a bow and arrows. Get father acting in his role as leader. Appeal to God for help.
3. He carried out the plan.
He made a bow and arrows. It was nothing pretty, but it was workable.
He appealed to his father and asked him to ask God for guidance.
Once he had the guidance, he followed it.
To understand the milieu of the Book of Mormon, follow this link.
I looked up to see why a wood bow would lose its strength. Apparently high heat and humidity which exists where they were traveling, will cause the wood to “set” and deform the bow so it loses its pull weight. Likewise, a steel bow used constantly in heat and humid conditions can develop micro fractures and break. Given the state of their metal working technology, it’s not surprising that it would also fail under constant use.
Their route of travel was South-southwest through a narrow strip of land along the Western shore of the Arabian peninsula. The shore is impassably rocky, but inland the route was well travelled and known today as the “Frankincense Trail.” It was probably towards the more desolate Southern end of this trail where Nephi’s bow broke.
This presented a life-threatening problem for them and displays the value of the experience. Consider the context. They’re in the middle of a fatiguing, multi-year long trek. There are probably expecting mothers in the party. There are no near by grocery stores or markets. Apparently, Nephi’s brothers’ bows were already unusable, and now his bow on which the party was depending has broken. Dire straights indeed.
So, what happens?
Nephi tells of two responses to the situation. One group complained to God about the unfairness of what happened. Included in the group, at least for a short time, was Nephi’s father, the leader of the expedition. The other group, which at least consisted of Nephi, decided to get to work and act.
Rather than complain, he analyzed the problem and came to the stark conclusion that if he couldn’t hunt, they would die. He knows the best tool for hunting was a bow and arrow. So, he made a bow and some arrows. He did what he could do.
Then in what I feel was a master stroke of humility and wisdom, he got his father back on board and into the problem solving mode by asking him to ask God where he Nephi should go to hunt. He respected the authority of his father’s position as leader of the family. Chastened, his father asks God and God told him where to go and look for food.
Nephi uses this information and succeeds in getting food for the family. Those are words you can live by in any situation, life threatening or no.
Nephi did:
1. Objectively identified the problem. Without a bow, I can’t hunt to get food. Without father as leader, the party will break apart. Both consequences are be catastrophic.
2. Defined the solution. Make a bow and arrows. Get father acting in his role as leader. Appeal to God for help.
3. He carried out the plan.
He made a bow and arrows. It was nothing pretty, but it was workable.
He appealed to his father and asked him to ask God for guidance.
Once he had the guidance, he followed it.
To understand the milieu of the Book of Mormon, follow this link.
blog comments powered by Disqus