The Eyes have it

Like many ground-floor flat-dwellers, I have net curtains at my windows for privacy.   However, the lady who has just moved in nearby has none, and I find I make a conscious effort when passing her window to look the other way lest I inadvertently invade her privacy.  This caused me to ponder the other day about meeting people in the street.

What happens when you meet a stranger as you walk along?  Do you offer a smile?  Do you even catch their eye?  More often than not, both sets of eyes stare steadfastly forward, or focus on the ground or the shop window . . . anything to avoid meeting the other's gaze.  Although many people these days are lonely, seeking fellowship or companionship, at the same time there is a real fear that any sign of friendship might be misconstrued as recognition; relationships can so easily get out of hand. 

It is said that the eye is the window of the soul; perhaps people don't want those particular windows open for others to look in.  While there are many legal, social, cultural or religious reasons why people adopt this distance between one another, I’d like to focus today on just one possibility: guilt.  If we aren’t sure that our friend is being totally honest with us about something, we might challenge him (or her), “Look me in the eye and say that!”

One of the most common causes of guilt in the modern world is sex, and one of the less pleasant aspects of this is pornography.  It’s said to be the biggest single use of the internet; it’s so easy, personal and confidential, isn’t it?  Just a few clicks and one exciting picture leads to another.  Jesus said that to look lustfully at a woman is to commit adultery with her (Matt. 5:28).  The same lustful passions are aroused by viewing pornography as by looking at a live woman, and are just as invasive of the limits of what rightfully belongs between husband and wife.  Whatever the cause, we may be aware of our guilt, and the way it can prevent us being truly open either with our friends or people generally.  But what can we do about it?  Visual temptation is part of daily life.

Jesus also said, “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell.” (Matt. 18:9).  While some argue that this was exaggeration for effect, St Paul took a more practical approach, when he told the Corinthians to “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.” (1 Cor. 6:18).

So the best advice is to avoid looking at whatever we might recognise as an opening for sin, whether in real life or a picture.  If we happen to glimpse something of this nature, look away; don’t give it a second glance: certainly don’t stare goggle-eyed at it, inviting the seed of sin to grow in our hearts.

If we can master our own eyes, we might find it possible to look someone else in the eye . . . and who knows what good could result?