WALKING IN DARKNESS
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
(Matthew 6: 23 – NAS)
Following what he said in the previous verse, about keeping our vision, our eyes, clear, Jesus now addresses the alternative.
What if we do let our sight “go bad”, what happens to us and those around us? Jesus says that your whole body will be full of darkness.
Studies have shown that a patient’s mental outlook can affect the progress of their recovery from illness or surgery. When the patient is optimistic, when he lives in a spiritual state of hope and acceptance, the progress usually is quite good. But when the patient is depressed, things do not go as well. One could say that metaphorically, a depressed patient is “full of darkness.”
What are those things that can cloud our vision, and bring darkness into our lives?
Broken relationships certainly have the power to throw shadows over us. The loss of the light of a joyful relationship leaves us in the dark night of pain. It almost doesn’t matter how the loss occurs – whether the relationship itself turned sour or we simply lose someone to death. We grieve in the loss, and suffer the pain of the broken connection.
Anxiety about work or income can also smother the light in our lives. Our sense of responsibility to our obligations can weight us down so much that our eyes are focused on the ground in front of our feet. We worry about planting the next step forward, so much so that our vision gets clouded and we cannot see at all.
When we let our own internal light grow dark, hiding all that is within us, we also smother the light that ought to be shining out to others.
We are sensitive to each other’s conditions. We have any number of expressions that describe what is basically this spiritual darkness – “under a cloud” and “he’s in a really dark mood” are just two of them. We can tell when someone else is not just having a rough time, but is caught in a fist of darkness.
And we prefer to avoid such people. Perhaps we fear contamination of the mood. Distress that is flooded with dark fears feels toxic to other people. No matter how much they may love you, when you have let your inner light be turned to darkness, their instinct is to stay clear of it.
I think that is why Jesus says “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
Remember, He has already told His followers that they are the light of the world, that they should shine brightly and fill their houses with light. And just before this, He has described the inner light we should all be nurturing as being a lamp to the body.
When we take darkness into ourselves, no matter what the source of the darkness is, we affect far more than our own conditions. When we carry darkness with us, it travels around us like a cloud, raining our sorrow or distress or anxiety on those around us. It touches them and affects them, and brings shadows into their days.
How then are we to avoid this? What can we do?
Jesus will have something to say to that in a few verses, but for the moment, the best answer is to choose light. However we can imagine that, even if it is simply giving thanks.
We do not have to stay walking in darkness.
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
(Matthew 6: 23 – NAS)
Following what he said in the previous verse, about keeping our vision, our eyes, clear, Jesus now addresses the alternative.
What if we do let our sight “go bad”, what happens to us and those around us? Jesus says that your whole body will be full of darkness.
Studies have shown that a patient’s mental outlook can affect the progress of their recovery from illness or surgery. When the patient is optimistic, when he lives in a spiritual state of hope and acceptance, the progress usually is quite good. But when the patient is depressed, things do not go as well. One could say that metaphorically, a depressed patient is “full of darkness.”
What are those things that can cloud our vision, and bring darkness into our lives?
Broken relationships certainly have the power to throw shadows over us. The loss of the light of a joyful relationship leaves us in the dark night of pain. It almost doesn’t matter how the loss occurs – whether the relationship itself turned sour or we simply lose someone to death. We grieve in the loss, and suffer the pain of the broken connection.
Anxiety about work or income can also smother the light in our lives. Our sense of responsibility to our obligations can weight us down so much that our eyes are focused on the ground in front of our feet. We worry about planting the next step forward, so much so that our vision gets clouded and we cannot see at all.
When we let our own internal light grow dark, hiding all that is within us, we also smother the light that ought to be shining out to others.
We are sensitive to each other’s conditions. We have any number of expressions that describe what is basically this spiritual darkness – “under a cloud” and “he’s in a really dark mood” are just two of them. We can tell when someone else is not just having a rough time, but is caught in a fist of darkness.
And we prefer to avoid such people. Perhaps we fear contamination of the mood. Distress that is flooded with dark fears feels toxic to other people. No matter how much they may love you, when you have let your inner light be turned to darkness, their instinct is to stay clear of it.
I think that is why Jesus says “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
Remember, He has already told His followers that they are the light of the world, that they should shine brightly and fill their houses with light. And just before this, He has described the inner light we should all be nurturing as being a lamp to the body.
When we take darkness into ourselves, no matter what the source of the darkness is, we affect far more than our own conditions. When we carry darkness with us, it travels around us like a cloud, raining our sorrow or distress or anxiety on those around us. It touches them and affects them, and brings shadows into their days.
How then are we to avoid this? What can we do?
Jesus will have something to say to that in a few verses, but for the moment, the best answer is to choose light. However we can imagine that, even if it is simply giving thanks.
We do not have to stay walking in darkness.
Labels: Matthew 6, Sermon on the Mount
posted by Sarah | 1:04 PM
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