Your Lamp

“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eyes are bad, your whole body is full of darkness, and how great is that darkness! Be careful, then, that the light within you is not darkness. So that, if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, then you will be radiant, as though a lamp were shining on you.”

(See Matthew 6:22-23; Luke 11:34-36)

(Editor's Note: There are numerous interpretations of the meaning of these Scripture passages. The editor humbly offers the following. First, consider these words and their meanings.

eye (ὀφθαλμός / ophthalmos): the physical eye, and also the mind's eye.

body (σῶμά / sōma): body, flesh; a body of people.

clear (ἁπλοῦς / haplous): single, simple, sound, perfect.

light (φῶς / phōs): light, a source of light, radiance.

poor (πονηρὸς / ponēros): evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.

darkness (σκότος / skotos): either physical or moral.

Given the above, consider the following interpretation: Your vision and perspective illuminate and motivate your life and your community. When your vision and perspective are singular and sound, your life and your community benefit from that illumination. But when your vision and perspective are divided, evil or malicious, your life and your community suffer greatly from the darkness that results. Be careful, then, that your vision and perspective do not motivate yourself and others to darkness. So that, if your life and your community are full of light, with no darkness present, then you and your community will be radiant, as though a lamp were shining on you.)

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