Bright Eyes

The lamp of the body is the eye.   

If your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.   

But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness.   

If all the light you have is darkness, it is dark indeed!

Matthew 6:22-23

There is a saying that “the eye is the window of the soul,” and that certainly was true of my mother.  She was unable to keep her opinions, feelings, etc., from flashing through her eyes.  When I reached my teenage years, her eyes were always filled with disappointment and disapproval when she looked at me.  I quickly got to the place where I never looked her in the eye – a habit that fanned out to include anyone I came in contact with.  If I didn’t look her in the eye, I could pretend I didn’t know what was broadcast there.

Fast forward to 2004.  I arrived in Phoenix early for my visit with the folks, and a taxi dropped me off at the house while my father was still puttering around in the shop.  My knock at the kitchen door brought a quick response, but I was completely unprepared for what I saw when the door opened.  There stood a tiny, waif-like creature clutching a baby doll, staring at me in wide-eyed wonder.  Because I was so shocked, I didn’t rely on my normal “talking to the floor” response, and stared steadily at the face of my mother.  I didn’t need an interpreter to realize what had happened.  Mom was obviously in an advanced stage of dementia and had no idea who I was.  Her eyes held the faintest glimmer of light, but it was clear that there was nobody home.

Jesus said that the eye was the lamp of the body – providing light to the soul, and shining light out into the world.  If there is no light coming in, the body is full of darkness.  If the soul is dark, the eye has no light to illuminate the world.  If we look at the people around us with a harsh and critical eye, then that which we pass to them will be darkness.  If we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with the love of God, the light of our eyes will pass that love to everyone around us.  May we truly be a people of shining eyes.