A ‘single-eyed’ view

Six thousand thoughts – that’s how many some experts say we think each day. So it’s not surprising if we sometimes find our thoughts drifting. And in today’s tech-heavy culture, distractions are more numerous and persistent than ever.

There is a solution, and it’s a simple one: the single eye. In his Sermon on the Mount, Christ Jesus says, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). Clearly, he is talking about much more than the physical faculty of sight.

What does it mean for the eye to be “single”? The Glossary of the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” defines “eyes” as “spiritual discernment, – not material but mental” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 586). Might not having a “single” eye mean keeping our focus on what is true, on what God made?

If we are distracted – one meaning of the prefix “dis” being “the opposite of” – we’re not being attracted to Spirit, God, the cause and creator of all that really exists.

As God’s image and likeness, His purely spiritual reflection (see Genesis 1:26, 27), you and I don’t need to get focused; we already include focus. A reflection doesn’t have a mind of its own to be distracted. There is only one, infinite Mind – God, who is totally good – and this Mind is laser-focused on each of its ideas. And as Mind’s idea, each of us reflects or expresses this pure focus on good. It cannot be lost or gained – it just is, because in reality there is nothing else on which to focus!

What we need to do is claim our coexistence with this Mind, which can never be confused, troubled, uncertain, or distracted. As the Bible says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Jesus refused to have any other mind than Mind. He refused to act on any thoughts that did not come from that Mind.

Letting Mind govern the focus of our attention is natural. In reality, we have no choice, since we are the very expression of Mind. However, what the Bible terms the carnal mind, or the belief in a mind apart from God, would tempt us to think we have a personal mind that can be confused or lack attention.

Years ago, I was living in New York City, when my upstairs neighbor sublet the apartment above me. The new tenant liked to work late into the night. Every evening after I retired, I would be kept awake by pounding on the floor and loud music.

To say I was distracted would be an understatement. I tried to resolve the issue in several ways, including asking him to lower the volume of the music, inviting him to lunch to talk about the problem, and even enlisting our landlord as a go-between. Nothing helped.

One night, in a fit of rage I sprinted upstairs and banged on the man’s door, shouting at him to turn the music down. The noise continued. Stymied, I retreated to my own space and lay in bed wondering what to do next. Clearly prayer – which should have been my first resort – was the only remaining option.

In desperation, I slowly repeated the Lord’s Prayer, letting each line sink deeply into consciousness. What makes this prayer so helpful is that it assures us of present spiritual perfection. The line “Thy kingdom come” is interpreted in Science and Health as “Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present” (p. 16). This inspires us to accept not only God’s allness but also His immediacy. It affirms God’s peace and power as the only reality, now.

By the time I finished the prayer, I felt calm. Enveloped in God’s gentle embrace, I fell asleep. The next day the owner of the loft reclaimed his space. The sublet tenant left, and the new occupant was as quiet as the proverbial mouse for the rest of the time I lived there.

Whatever distractions we are dealing with, there remains one absolute fact: All that’s really going on anywhere, at any time, is infinite good, and Mind’s focus on its own goodness can never be disturbed. We can demonstrate that undisturbed focus and bring harmony to our and others’ experience by letting our eye be “single” – ever conscious of the divine Mind and its perfect, perfectly harmonious, ideas.

Adapted from an article published in the Feb. 26, 2024, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.