single ..

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy [single] your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
   [ Matthew 6.22 ff ]

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy [single] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.
   [ Luke 11 33 ff ]

interesting bibical word, ' single ' ..
it has to do with 'whole', or 'sound', maybe a glint of 'mature', sorta like when a master of the wines approves a particular batch as 'ready' - it has arrived at its desired character.
Jesus' words here messed with my head, the way he put it.

i'm thinking 'shalom'
i'm trying to find the link between shalom and single ..

i admit i may be off on this: i see 'single' as a reference to focused, in your zone, following hard on the thing you've been called to
spiritually, it's a fixation on Jesus and his  leading, and being the follower i should be

out of that evolves singleness of lifeview - life becomes extremely simple and uncluttered

it's a consummation; we're consumed with it, as if hardly anything else matters
other things almost seem to be distractions
and some things become downright tedious and feel like a waste
sadly, some things load stress, amounting to anti what-you're-about
it becomes so that 'stress' earned in the pursuit of your calling seems ok, kind of, compared to the stress from the other life-things

we run from the concept of 'consumed', especially as it relates to relationships - the psych will tell you it's unhealthy
thing is, we're not talking about a lover here, but about Jesus, rabbi
and he taught singleness
he even went as far as to say that if we don't 'hate' mother and father we can't follow him !
that's tough
that is very hard to swallow
if you want to follow me, everything else must almost seem to be negotiable, disposable, discountable - distractions
Jesus wants all of us, everything, nothing excluded; we must be consumed by him

that could be a hard thing for some people in your circle to accept - they think you're a nut, going ( gone? ) crazy; they may even think you a fool

but you .. you have to do what your heart says
nothing else matters, or matters little
you're consumed
single

does that mean i hate my mother, or disrespect her ? absolutely not
Jesus is using hyperbole, common in his culture ..
but the point is well-made by him, " if you want to be my disciple, deny your self and pick up your cross every day, and then follow me "
what esle could that be but total immersion .. what else indeed
either all-in or not in at all
disciple
focused
telescoped
tunnelvisioned
single
it changes your entire life, like a lamp put on a lampstand to light the whole room so that anyone coming in can see
' when you eye is single your whole body is also full of light, like candlelight lights your space '

one of the prophets of old said God's word was like an unquenchable fire inside him, and he had to get it out before it consumed him in its hotness
it's like that, kinda
consumed
singleminded
in your zone
moving in that direction and nothing and noone is going to detract us from that
single
doing shalom

Jesus wants us to fix our eyes on what his call is for us, and to pursue that wholeheartedly

there is nothing left
so that when you sing 'all to jesus i surrender', it's not a lie, or a wish; it's the solid truth of who you now are

single, the core of you
cenetred

..

clarify
simplify
balance
center