Burning Eyes

In the realm of metaphors, a fire can represent a myriad of different things. People have come to realize that they have a love-hate relationship with fire. They understand the importance that fire can bring. They know that fire can bring warmth as well as light. Fire is applicable in cooking a meal, drying clothes, etc. In the night, fire gives a sense of safety and security. People also know the destructive power of fire. Those who have seen a fire destroying a house or even the woods can testify to this. Once a fire is free of all safety measures, it can kill and destroy.

The eye is another example of people using metaphors using anatomical portions of the human body. Some of these metaphors include such phrases as:

1. The Window to the Soul
2. Screaming in silence
3. Deep Eyes
4. Ocean of wonder
5. Telling a story
6. The size of dinner plates
7. Eyes that sparkle
8. Sunken
9. The thousand-yard stare
10. Eyes in the back of my head

These are just a few examples of metaphors concerning the eye. What, then, do I mean by "burning eyes?" Before I begin, I want to illustrate a short anatomy lesson. 

In the illustration to the left, you see the connection that the eyes have with the brain. The brain section is the occipital lobe. Let me start by saying that the brain is the human body's most complex organ. The study of the brain, therefore, is a difficult task. The occipital lobe puts together the information gathered by the eyes into one coherent picture. One function of this lobe is to assign meaning. This lobe takes data from several different areas. These areas include the eyes, long-term memory, and short-term memory. One example is when you hear a song, and it brings back visual memories of incidents. In this example, the sound can bring feelings of nostalgia to pain.

All of this is just basic anatomy and function. It does not get into the area of intent, usage, and application. Fire, as previously mentioned, is a powerful metaphor. It is applied to describe how a person is using their eyes. What do I mean? You can look with a wide range of emotions such as:

1. Hate
2. Envy
3. Passion
4. Greed
5. Lust

Yeshua talks about this very thing in the book of Matthew.

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great [is] that darkness! - Matthew 6:22-23 KJV

If your brain is constantly fed a diet of pain, misery, and garbage the filter setting on your brain will be turned to the same thing.

Sincerely,

David A. Kitchens