Your Light

Light and spirituality have long fascinated me. I discovered that the different versions of the Bible speak to us differently with remarkable variations of understanding shed on the concept of light. I've highlighted some parts that particularly speak to me.

I sent out some Bible verses on light for our women's group to ponder and be ready to discuss. On Biblegateway, you can read the Bible in many versions. I chose three to compare Luke 11:33-36. 

King James - The Bible of my childhood:

³³ No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.³⁴ The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.³⁵ Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.³⁶ If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

The Message - A Current Favorite Version of Mine

^33-36 “No one lights a lamp, then hides it in a drawer. It’s put on a lamp stand so those entering the room have light to see where they’re going. Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don’t get musty and murky. Keep your life as well-lighted as your best-lighted room.” 

The Voice - A New to Me Version 

³³ You need a light to see. Only an idiot would light a lamp and then put it beneath the floor or under a bucket. No, any intelligent person would put the lamp on a table so everyone who comes in the house can see. ³⁴ Listen, your eye, your outlook, the way you see is your lamp. If your way of seeing is functioning well, then your whole life will be enlightened. But if your way of seeing is darkened, then your life will be a dark, dark place. ³⁵ So be careful, people, because your light may be malfunctioning. ³⁶ If your outlook is good, then your whole life will be bright, with no shadowy corners, as when a radiant lamp brightens your home.

To my surprise, a version of the Bible I've not read spoke loudly to me. I particularly like The Voice as well as The Message, (2 newer translations in our current language).  The way you see is your lamp, grabbed me. I thought of as a man thinketh, whatsoever you believe, I have seen the problem and it is us, etc.

I have read countless studies and seen over and over again how attitude affects all we do and say and chose. I like the way it described our outlook as being the WAY we see, and our outlook may be malfunctioning. If we see shadowy corners, that is a sign for us to give our outlook a check-up. We used to call it, a check-up from the neck up.

I encourage you to read these verses and consider them in relation to your life, your light, your outlook. And then, work on being aware, or more aware, of how you respond to life's many situations. Let's go for more light.