Skip to main content

Windows to the Soul -- Abigale Bell

 


"So he opened his eyes, and his soul was stabbed with a wound more deadly than any which the gladiator, whom he was so anxious to see, had received in his body." (Augustine, 122)

We've all heard the saying, "...the eyes are the windows to the soul...". I think Augustine's words from book 6 of the Confessions are a great example of this idea.  When Augustine speaks of his friend Alypius, he explains the great temptation of gladiatorial games Alypius dealt with. It all began when he opened his eyes and allowed himself to become caught up in the excitement of the game; when he allowed his soul to be corrupted by the desire for excitement. 

"The din had pierced his ears and forced him to open his eyes, laying his soul open to receive the wound which struck it down." (Augustine, 122)

These words are reminiscent of a passage of scripture from Psalm 141. Verse 8 says, "But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute."

Here, the psalmist clearly distinguishes the connection between the eyes and the soul. Augustine is admonishing that people be careful of what they look at, lest their soul should become corrupted. He shows how easy it is for one to become caught up in worldly pleasures and so damage the soul. The psalmist is pleading the inverse. He looks intently upon the Lord so that he will not be tempted by worldly pleasures. He worries that if his eyes leave God, his soul will be laid bare to the caustic temptations of the world. 

Another connection I made from this passage of the Confessions is to one of my favorite hymns. The chorus goes: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus; Look full in His wonderful face; And the things of earth will grow strangely dim; In the light of His glory and grace..." These words remind me that my eyes are truly windows to my soul. If I keep my gaze fixed on Him, the things of the world will grow "strangely dim" and my soul will be filled, instead, with His light. 

Commented on Braylan's and Emmett's posts.


Comments

  1. Emmett BryantFebruary 1, 2021 at 11:58 AM

    Your post explains the importance of keeping our eyes upon Jesus. I really enjoyed that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2021 at 3:38 PM

    I love how to tied the Bible verse to the passage from Augustine. We all know the saying "You are what you eat." But, we also are what we see.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Braylan StringfellowFebruary 1, 2021 at 4:31 PM

    I agree that we do need to keep our eyes on Jesus. If we focus on Him and not the things of this world, a lot of our problems would disappear.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rachael GregsonFebruary 1, 2021 at 6:45 PM

    I really love how you wrote on keeping the eyes on the right thing-specifically Jesus-and the rest will be taken care of. It reminds me of a quote from a book I read a couple of years ago. It was called The Art of Racing in the Rain and it was ironically about a dog who wanted to race cars like his owner. In it, the dog says in regards to what he has observed about the sport, "In racing, they say that your car goes where your eyes go."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Emma Kate PattersonFebruary 2, 2021 at 10:45 PM

    I really like that you pointed out the temptation of the games because I believe in today’s world there are so many things to be tempted by. It is hard to stay focused on our faith and not be tempted by the world around.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Word Painting in Vesta—Lily Caswell

  Word painting in Weelkes’s As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending is quite interesting. And because that is a really long title, I’m calling it Vesta from now on. Word painting is basically when the melody matches up with the lyrics. So in Vesta, when it says “ascending” and “descending”, there are obviously scales going up and down. The madrigal was written for six voices to sing unaccompanied, so when they start to come together, it matches with the lyrics; so if the lyric says “two by two”, there are only two voices; “three by three” there is another voice added, and so forth. All the parts combine in exclamation before Vesta before it is left “all alone” to the highest soprano. All the way to the end of the piece, word painting continues when shouts of “Long live fair Oriana” with the bass sustaining long notes. Word painting in and of itself is a highly interesting topic because a musician takes the words of a poem or a sonnet and writes a melody line that pertains to cer...
4 comments
Read more

Honor and Gain; Which Do You Seek?

 Pericles.... thanks? I can only imagine that's what the family and friends were thinking after they heard his historic funeral speech honoring the departed. What do I mean? Well, Pericles briefly mentions the men who have fallen at the beginning of his speech, but then goes on to discuss how great Athens is, and how the contributions the city has made to the world are unmatched.. why? I understand that he is also commending the citizens of Athens and empowering them to continue to make their city greater, but I thought this was supposed to be a funeral speech about dead war heroes, not about Athens. Another thing I found interesting is what Pericles said on page five about honor: "For it is only the love of honour that never grows old; and honour it is, not gain, as some would have it, that rejoices the heart of age and helplessness" (Thucydides, page 5). Have you ever watched a show or movie, or read a book, about a duel between two men? There is always an unspoken agre...
Post a Comment
Read more

It Is All About the Intent - Clabo

Augustine shed light on a very important idea that worship is not supposed to be just like every other kind of music. I used to have friends who went to an extremely restrictive church where the pastor believed and constantly proclaimed, "If during worship your toe starts tappin' before your heart starts movin' then it ain't Christian!" While this statement may be kind of excessive, it does reflect the same truth that Augustine touches on. Worship is meant to teach and to help one grow closer to God. It is not about trying to reach an emotional or spiritual high, it is a time a place where we, as Christians, should be striving to focus intently on the words we are singing. This leads to my second point. Our intent and heart posture when worshiping God is always going to be a necessary thing when it comes to truly worshiping, but if the songs we sing don't necessarily reflect the truths that we are trying to live out and apply to our lives, then we are never go...
2 comments
Read more