Sunday, May 27, 2007

An eye "Single to the Glory of God"

There is an oft quoted verse in the Doctrine and Covenants: D&C 88:67
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
This scripture has inspired me for a long time, but recently it gained new importance in my struggle to understand. What caught my attention was what it means to have an eye that is "single to [God's] glory". I suppose like most people I just vaguely understood that concept as being "focused" on God and the commandments. In other words, if I rigidly conformed to a set of behavioral standards and focused on becoming more "righteous" as defined by my primary-understanding of the "Thou shalt nots," then I would be filled with this mysterious "light."

In retrospect, it is understandable that I would have such a view because in the very next verse is the charge to "sanctify yourself" in order to achieve this singleness of mind. But, the concept of sanctifying myself is not explained in those versus. As in most scripture versus, understanding what the words mean is critical. Sometimes, we think we understand what the words mean because we lean not on whisperings of the Holy Ghost as we pray and study scripture, but on the worn-out cliches we've developed in our minds from years of hearing words over the pulpit. As I've come to understand the scriptures better, it seems that the biggest difficulty in keeping an eye "single to the glory of God" is understanding what that concept even means.

As I've pondered the concept of our "eye" referred to in this scripture, some additional words that come to mind which might explain the concept more fully are "world-view" and "mindset." What does it mean to have our "mindset" single to the glory of God? If our way of looking at and perceiving the world is to be "single to the glory of God" then it sounds like we had better understand what is the "glory of God."

There are several scriptures that discuss the "glory of God" as being celestial glory which is compared to the light of the sun (e.g. D&C 76:70, Matt 13:43). This radiating light is clearly a manifestation of the glory of God. These scriptures also make clear that receiving the glory of God in the celestial kingdom is part of what it means to be "filled with light." While these scriptures help us understand that celestial glory is available to the "righteous," they provide little insight on how to obtain it, other than the concept that we must "be as God is" to live in his presence.

I suppose that it is this concept of "becoming like God" that led to my somewhat self-centered view that being "single" to the glory of God is a self-focused enterprise. I now believe that nothing could be further from the truth.

Turning to Moses 1:39 we read:
For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
So, the glory of God is found in his work of lifting His children to a celestial state. God's glory radiates from his devoted love for us, His children and His desire to see us achieve our full potential.

Keeping my "eye" single to the glory of God is keeping my mindset devoted in love to others and their potential. I must see each person as a child of God, worthy of respect and consideration. Other scriptures support this concept. Consider Mormon 8:15 where Moroni discusses how the Book of Mormon will be brought to light in the latter days:
For none can have power to bring it to light save it be given him of God; for God wills that it shall be done with an eye single to his glory, or the welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord.
Notice how the "eye single to his glory" is rephrased as concern for the "welfare" of the "convenant people of the Lord." Or notice how in D&C 4:5, the qualifications of those who would assist in the missionary work are described:
And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.
Keeping an eye single to the glory of God is here associated with being filled with faith, hope, charity, and love. These specific attributes are essential to lifting others to their full potential.

Thus a mindset that is single to the glory of God is one that is full of sincere and true love for others. Contemplating what it means to truly love others, I'm reminded of Kant's moral imperative wherein he defines ethical behavior in that we do not treat others as "means-only" but as "ends." In other words, we respect others as children of God with divine potential.

In particular, I think this means that we must respect the agency of each person. For "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" to suffer the consequences of the wrong choices that would follow from preserving to us our agency. If God's glory is accomplished by preserving our agency, then keeping our eye single to the glory of God must certainly include respecting the agency and rights of others.

My experience is that as I've truly sought to value the agency of others, I have been led to knowledge and understanding of how such thinking leads actually leads to a successful society. To me, this has been part of the light that is promised to those who keep their eye single to the glory of God. One aspect of this understanding has come from the writings of Ludwig von Mises and his colleagues of the Austrian school for economics. For example, see many of the writings at http://www.mises.org for more details on how respecting the agency of others leads to economic prosperity.

In his work "Human Action," von Mises begins with the premise that humans act (i.e. that we have agency) and constructs the logical consequences of that premise to show that a free-society based on voluntary transactions (as opposed to coercively regulated) is the only way to maximize prosperity.

This idea has led to an awareness of how such simple principles are not being followed in the world today and it is causing great suffering. This idea of agency and those who would undermine it, has also led to a greater understanding of the prophecies regarding our day, especially the words of Isaiah who constantly speaks of "justice." Perhaps future posts will explore some of these ideas.

8 comments:

Topsy said...

ok. i made it half way through, before being interrupted. so I'm nearly done and its time for another fascinating post. . .

Unknown said...

Ok...wow!! Thank you SO much for sharing your insights! This has completely changed my perspective! These truths seem so clear now! Thank you so much for being in tune to the Spirit and sharing these beautiful thoughts

Dcn said...

On the front cover of the missionary manual is 3 Nephi chapter 27 verse 20. This verse tells how we are sanctified. The gift of the Holy Ghost is to always have the spirit to be with us unless we are sinning which on the surface seems to contradict a passage that says if we don’t know what we’re doing wrong we are not sinning. The key is to pay attention to whether we feel the spirit or not. The sacrament prayers suggest that anyone can say that they remember Jesus but those Who remember him according to his will and his spirit will always have his spirit to be with them. Likewise those who really are keeping his commandments will always have his spirit to be with them. Most people misunderstand what his commandments are. What the spirit is telling us right now causing our hearts to burn is the commandment of the Lord. Yes we become sanctified as we listen to the spirit, obey, and try To keep the companionship of the Holy Ghost on an ongoing basis. From time to time we will lose the spirit and if we pay attention we can pray to know what caused us to stop feeling the spirit and correct whatever the problem is. That is the purpose of the ordinance of the sacrament to remind us to self monitor and make sure that we continue to feel the spirit in our lives and to correct anything that stands in the way before we eat the bread and drink the water. , our sins are forgiven, not just because we took the sacrament, since there is a possibility of taking it unworthily in which case our sins would not be forgiven. The most loving thing that we can do for others is to cause them to feel the spirit and exemplify to them the fruits and gifts of the spirit so that they too can believe that they can be forgiven of their own sins and also develop the fruits and gifts of the spirit such as joy, peace, self-worth, clarity of understanding, discernment, and more. As we manifest the spirit, the gifts of the spirit, and the fruits of the spirit, we glorify our father in heaven and truly love those surround us. Some people think that what it means to love one another is to try to satisfy the pride of those around us and disregard the spirit so it depends on what you mean by loving one another as far as whether or not that glorifies God. If that love is such that it causes the spirit to be felt then it is one Aspect of glorifying God. Having and eye single to the glory of God would then requires that we always have his spirit to be with us which is only possible because of the atonement and the grace and the power of God which means he deserves all the credit for everything. What we think has been compared to an eye because we often refer to understanding something as seeing. The only thing that we are really free to choose is what and how we think. The Jews at the time of the saviors mortal ministry had studied the old testament prophets. They thought that they knew everything about God by their own intellect. The problem with that thinking was that they had rejected the Holy Ghost and had not coupled their study of the prophets with the witness that the Holy Ghost causing their hearts to burn when their private interpretation coincided with the true meaning intended by the Lord. As a result they did not recognize the Messiah when He stood in front of them filled with the power of the Holy Ghost to overflowing. They rejected him for the same reason they had rejected the Holy Ghost and for the same reasons. They were tempted by the devil to be esteemed more highly than the voice of God.

Dcn said...

The glory of God is his intelligence, not ours. Our intelligence progresses and becomes more like his as we try to maintain and he made the spirit. That is how we obtain eternal life, by knowing God through his Spirit.

Aspen said...

D&C 88:67 and Matthew 6:22 have some added insight on having an eye single to the glory of God and what it means. I hadn't thought about how in D&C 4 it describes those God calls and those who are called and qualify. Thanks for your article, it opened my mind up. In matthew 6:22 it says “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” if you look into the greek roots of light you may find some added ideas and insight. Here's a great article that dives into Having an eye single to the Glory of God. https://scripturenotes.com/having-an-eye-single-to-the-glory-of-god?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=study_topic_5_having_an_eye_single_to_the_glory_of_god&utm_term=2020-02-21

Dcn said...

Most people would disagree with the following unless they were willing to ask heavenly father and listen to the Holy Ghost, that no one can understand anything about the gospel until their mind is single to always having his spirit to be with them. The gospel is entirely about always having his spirit to be with us. The purpose of the sacrament is to remind us of that promise and to check and make sure we are keeping it. That is the meaning of the admonition to receive the Holy Ghost. Everything else follows from that and only when we keep it. Trying to intellectually triangulate goes in endless circles until the spirit opens a correct understanding.

Dcn said...

There is a devotional on BYU Idaho by Robert Worrell in titled “The Holy Ghost “ in which he postulates that the glory of God is the Holy Ghost with which I agree. When I read his talk it occurred to me that if you think of it that way you can replace glory with Holy Ghost so that if your eye be single to the Holy Ghost, your whole body shall be full of light Which means that you won’t be filled with the spirit and with a knowledge of the Lord which is correct and clear and joyful.

Dcn said...

My microphone misrecorded what I said. You WILL be filled with the Holy Ghost and with a correct understanding of the gospel which is clear and joyful. I am experiencing great joy inwardly from seeking to have the spirit as powerful as possible in my life which is what I think the sacrament prayers are saying. It is vastly different from the fleeting shallow pleasure of boasting that we are better than everybody else which is the opposite of loving one another but the only way to see the difference is to earnestly try to have the spirit as per please passport, and when you’ve done it long enough you will see because the spirit will show you the difference. It doesn’t make you better than anybody else, it causes you to be sincerely grateful for the atonement, heavenly father‘s plan, but more than anything, for the Holy Ghost. It’s not about being perfect or knowing it all because heavenly father is someone who knows everything and we tap in to his correct knowledge through the Holy Ghost. If we only rely on what we think in our own mind without the spirit, that is like an infant telling his parents to go jump in the lake.