Old Bill

You can learn a lot about someone by looking into their eyes. When someone’s lying, fake smiling, or upset, the eyes are the dead giveaway. 

William Shakespeare went as far as to say, “Eyes are the window to your soul.”

Old Bill was onto something, but it’s important to recognize that this pathway isn’t a one way street. On one side of the window is our soul for the world to see, and on the other side is the world for our soul to see. 

While the senses allow us to experience beauty that lifts our spirits, we’re also exposed to ugliness that drags us down. 

On top of that, our senses are limited — we can only take in so much. Despite how hard we may try, you can’t watch two things at once or listen to two songs at the same time. 

There’s a constant battle for our attention. 

So, what can we do? We need to guard our senses against anything that doesn’t uplift us, doesn’t make us better, or doesn’t bring us closer to God. We also need to guard our senses in order to block out distractions and noise. It’s in the peaceful quiet of our soul where we encounter God. It’s by closing off our senses — when we retreat to our center — that we enter the Lord’s dwelling place. 

The risk we run if we don’t guard our senses? Our souls, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, become overrun. The temple is no longer a holy place, but becomes a marketplace for money changers and tax collectors.