“The eye is the lamp of the body.” (Matthew 6:22)
Many times people walk around carrying heavy burdens. You can see it in their demeanor, the frenetic hurriedness as they interact with you. Our egoic personality always seems to be thinking about an experience of the past or concerns about the future. This can be exhausting. One can be quite okay, laying down, safe, in the comfort of your home and yet we say things like, “I’ve got a lot on my plate.”
This was why Jesus advises us that the “eye is the lamp of the body” meaning where are you focusing your attention? Are you in the Now moment or thinking of a problem you are holding in mind.
A term for this problem in Greek mythology is called The “Gordian Knot.”
As the story goes, in 333 B.C., the Macedonian conqueror marched his army into Gordium, in modern day Turkey. He encountered an ancient wagon, its yoke tied with several knots, all so tightly entangled that it was impossible to see how they were fastened.
The legend was that the wagon once belonged to King Midas. An oracle had declared that any man who could unravel these knots was destined to become ruler of all Asia.
An impetuous Alexander was “seized with an ardent desire” to untie the Gordian knot. After wrestling with it for a time, he pulled his sword and sliced the knot in half with a single stroke.
Our attention is that sword. I love the Tai Chi movement “cutting through to clarity,” as one can physically feel the knots of illusion release and fall away.
Be Still and Know that I AM,
Rev Janice
