Ol' Fred had been a faithful Christian and was in the hospital, near death. The family called their pastor to stand with them. As the pastor stood next to the bed, Ol' Fred's condition appeared to deteriorate and he motioned frantically for something to write on. The pastor lovingly handed him a pen and a piece of paper, and Ol' Fred used his last bit of energy to scribble a note, then he died.
The pastor thought it best not to look at the note at that time, so he placed it in his jacket pocket. At the funeral, as he was finishing the message, he realized that he was wearing the same jacket that he was wearing when Ol' Fred died. He said, "You know, Ol' Fred handed me a note just before he died. I haven't looked at it, but knowing Fred, I'm sure there's a word of inspiration there for us all."
He opened the note, and read, "Hey, buddy, you're standing on my oxygen tube!"
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One practice in the Christian life that we don't hear too much about these days is "custody of the eyes". Our parents and grandparents are more familiar with this important aspect of Christian purity; basically, it means to have control of what we look at regularly. With the countless images that inundate us each day via television, movies, magazines, music / videos, ads / billboards, and internet, we need to employ this great spiritual tool as part of our daily arsenal to "fight the good fight of faith" (2 Tim 4:6).
Jesus places the utmost importance on custody of the eyes in Luke 11: "The lamp of your body is your eye. When your eye is clear, your whole body, too, is filled with light; but when it is diseased your body, too, will be darkened. See to it then that the light inside you is not darkness" (v. 34-35). If we are not careful, the light that is in our body and soul can be darkened by diseased or poisoned eyes.
The eyes are the "windows of the soul". They reflect the state of the soul; if someone if filled with the light of Christ, you can see it in their eyes. By contrast, if someone is filled with darkness and constantly appears sad, you can often see that in their eyes. Even if their eyes don't reflect it, Jesus' words remain true: we can pollute our minds and bodies by looking at unclean things.
Living a pure, chaste life for Christ starts with our eyes. How can we possibly begin to live this kind of life? A Catholic author, T.G. Morrow, helps us get started:
One must begin by observing with Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica, I, q 81 a3), that the sexual appetite listens not only to reason, but to the senses and the imagination as well. Thus, one must first be careful what he/she looks at or watches. Viewing sexually explicit movies or videocassettes, or pornography, or even focusing on provocatively dressed members of the opposite sex is poison for one seeking chastity. The worst of these is using pornographic materials, since pornography depicts sex as merely recreational and women (or men) as mere objects of enjoyment. Both are terrible lies.
The Father of Lies knows how important our eyes are in following Christ, and is constantly fighting each one of us for custody of our eyes. He wants us to view what is impure, and to do it ad nauseum. But, we have major weapons to fight him in gaining (or regaining) control of all that comes into our mind and soul.
We have the Grace of Christ in the Sacraments, especially in the Eucharist and Confession, Scripture, prayer, the intercession of the Blessed Mother ("Virgin of Virgins") and all the angels (ask for your guardian angel to help you) and saints (St. Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr at age 11, is a good one), other devotions, mortifications, books on purity and chastity, and each other to help us "fight the good fight".
"Do not say that you have chaste minds if you have unchaste eyes because an unchaste eye is the messenger of an unchaste heart". - St Augustine
2 comments:
"Custody of the Eyes" is not a concept that I had heard before. But this post really struck me, and deeply, for a few different reasons.
First, the concept is so simple, as so much of the modern world is focused on distracting the eyes from what is truly important, such as caring for others selflessly and developing deep and lasting personal relationships, seeing the suffering of others and trying to do something about it, etc. Instead, some of us (very guilty here) become focused on the latest trendy car, clothing, working obessively to improve our physical appearance, jewelery, homes, and all kinds of material goods. We become distracted by the superficial and lose sight of what is truly more important.
Secondly, graphic and sexual images are so pervasive that it is difficult not to dismiss them as harmless or even sometimes entertaining, which seems to be the view of modern society generally. It seems that we can be easily conditioned to forget that pornographic material is harmful because it "depicts sex as recreational," and "men and women are mere objects of enjoyment." This often leads to a very selfish approach toward relationships that focuses on sex almost exclusively, rather than on a deeper personal and spiritual level that is so much more fulfilling.
Finally, as the "eyes reflect the state of the soul," if someone often appears sad, is that person living in the darkness of evil, as a reflection of their soul? Or are you suggesting that life can be dark for someone who chooses not to follow Christ, which causes the sadness? This passage really affected me for some reason. I am interested in hearing more about your thoughts on this, if possible.
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