And yes, the Who is more godly? argument continues, doesn’t it? And it’s still as unhealthy as it was in Paul’s day. I had never thought of not-identifying myself with a denomination for that reason, just saying I’m a Christian, I believe in the Bible. I’ll have to think about that, it’s a good idea.

Hm, that was a lot of thinking, time for a little snooze! Andrea

You’re right, that’s another very related idea of the heart being undivided! And if you combine that with the single-eye phrase, I think of how horses that pull buggies have blinders so that they keep their eyes focused forward and not get distracted with what’s going on around the sides (their eyes are in a sense being kept undivided or unconfused?) Hmm. Just my musings, nothing concrete!

Yeah I liked Brian’s take on the yoke, too. Because when I thought about it, it says, “take” my yoke. So it’s like we are told to take something (His burden), not just hand over our burdens. And that was kinda of another revelation to me that I had never thought that “I” was supposed to carry anything! It appears we aren’t called to just give Him our burdens, but “exchange” them. But Jesus calls it His yoke. It’s His burden, and we are to take it because it’s heck of a lot lighter than ours! And I see that if we truly learn to love one another, then doing things for each other is a pleasure to do. When we are not self-centered, then we should enjoy doing things for others. And that’s what I got out of it.

Now I do know there is another passage which tells us to “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” He does tell us to cast our cares upon Him, but he also asks us to be “humble,” which I think is part of His yoke–i.e. love, patience, kindness, etc. Also, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” So again, we are to let God know our troubles, we are told to do something–”pray.”

It seems we are encouraged to cultivate a give and take relationship with God. It seems to be a two-way street, not just a one way street where we are only on the receiving end. That reminds me of another passage. . . “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Again, we aren’t told to just sit there and do nothing, but trust that God will do it all for us, EXCEPT when Christ died for us to redeem us. He did everything then. And even then He says, “I stand at the door and knock.” We have to open the door. But the other passages (regarding how we are to live our lives) seem to indicated that before we get, we must ask; before we find, we must seek; before it is opened, we must knock. I have held to this concept with healing. We should not just expect to be well, we should strive to be well. My feeling is that God wants us to search Him out.

Okay, now there I go rambling again. . . But one last thing! Ha! Yes, I think Paul does talk about Christians quarreling or bickering and bringing each other down. I think it was 1 Corinthians regarding divisions. ” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.” I believe this was in reference to those who were arguing about which of them was more Godly because they did such and such or followed such and such. I.e. I am of Apollos, or Cephas, or perhaps in modern times is would be like saying, I’m a Baptist, Protestant, Methodist, etc. And that is one reason I like to just say I believe in the Bible and not associate myself with any denomination.

Okay, now that’s it, ha! Thanks for more food for thought!

Marla

Brian’s take on Jesus’ yoke is wonderful. I never thought of it that way. I thought of it more as the sense of “handing it over”–not worrying and fretting about things, but doing what’s good and right, and trusting God. But of course, “doing what’s good and right” leads to those qualities of love, peace, and patient, and also promotes them–if you have peace in your heart, you are not going to be mean and selfsh.

But anyway, I saw the yoke as being the simple task of allowing Jesus to be the center of our lives. Simple, but it does require attention. And yes, it does give a person a much lighter, freer feeling. It’s just a beautiful thing. And, reading hymns and poems, it’s clear so many people have felt this lightness. “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he’s watching me. ”

And I really really agree with you about the importance of Christians building each other up and helping with understanding. This is different from the sense of “critical spirit” that can sometimes take hold of people, inside of churches and outside, where finding fault becomes sort of like a sport or something. It tears people down.

Isn’t there something in one of Paul’s letters about this very thing? I can’t remember where . . . . .

Thank you, Marla! I feel lifted up as well!

Andrea

You’re welcome, and I agree with you that it does give that passage more meaning, doesn’t it? I’m glad you brought it up as it does appear to be relevant to not being double-minded. Good catch! I feel uplifted! This is the kind of interaction I think Christians are supposed to participate in–building up one another, helping each other to understand the ways of Christ more.

This is a bit of a tangent, but brought to mind in relation to Christians helping one another. Last night I was discussing “burdens” with Brian. He said, “Jesus told us, ‘Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’” I asked, “what is His yoke?” I know what a yoke is, but I was wondering what it was in reference to Jesus’ yoke. Brian said he thinks it is love, peace, patience, etc. If we learn to do those things, life would be must easier, and “lighter” on us in comparison to the yokes of envy, strife, self-seeking, etc. I thought that was likely true, and just reminded of it when we help each other learn about Christ. Knowing a little bit more of Christ “does” give me a lighter, freer feeling. Not everything is shrouded in mystery, but revealed in light. Does that make sense to you, or am I now just babbling on from the joy of feeling I got a little nugget of understanding? Ha!

Anyway, thanks, Andrea! Have a wonderful day.

Marla

I agree that it’s really useful to know the cultural customs of the time, when sorting through the Bible. . . . .

Gotta go, more later, Andrea

Okay! Have a great day! If you ever some across anything else that brings more light to that passage, I’d love to hear of it!

Marla

“The ey is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”

When I spoke of the “single” eye, I was remembering the King James version–

“The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, they whole body shall be full of light.”

Is health, or wholeness then, singularity of vision? Being single-minded? Did “single” and “healthy” used to be synonyms?

Just for the heck of it, I looked up the same verse in my Spanish Bible. It uses the word “sano” which means “healthy.”

TTFN!

Andrea

The camp site you visited looks nice! Thanks for the link to the labyrinth, too. That is interesting and a good point explaining the difference between labyrinths and mazes.

Yes, I have also thought about similar passages about light and the eyes in the Bible. Both gospels of Matthew and Luke discuss that, for instance Luke says,

“The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.”

One thing I wondered about that is what we allow ourselves to see, and how that affects us (I’m thinking along the lines of Jerry Mander and his book, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television). And another thing I’ve considered is light therapy. I’m referring to the observations of John Ott and how broad spectrum light affects our health. His observations were fascinating, and one of the reasons why I think sunlight is soooo beneficial to our health, especially those of us who have worked to recover our health naturally. I also read that the pineal gland is actually sensitive to light that comes through the eyes. The pineal gland is located right behind the eyes and thus receives light through the eyes. The production of melatonin by the pineal gland is believed to be stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. So our exposures to sunlight through the eyes appears to greatly influence our circadian rhythm. And as you know, adequate “sleep” is essential to healing and proper functioning of the mind and body. I’m sure Jesus understood these things.

Were the reference passages you are referring to which Jesus spoke about the eye from Matthew and Luke? If not, let me know what the references are. I would like to look it up.

Okay! Take care!

Marla

http://www.pilgrimlodge.org/pages/labyrinth.html

Enjoy. A.

On another take on labyrinths, I will send you a link to a labyrinth at the Christian camp where I was recently a counselor. It explains the spiritual significance of labyrinths. It was a wonderful experience to walk this labyrinth with 14 teenagers and a Honduran pastor.

Will go find and send the link, then I gotta go do some purposeful work!!

Andrea