Light or darkness

They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. I believe that statement to be true, especially in my current environment where the eyes are so telling. I think the misconception about prison is that everyone believes it's a dark place. Now I can only speak from my experience, and about this institution, but the place isn't what is dark, but the individual that are housed here are.

It's one thing to see someone's behavior reflect evil, but an entire different thing to see eyes that contain nothing. Some individuals have lost that twinkle in their eyes and look lost. Their eyes are lifeless and hard. What their eyes choose to perceive is what dwells in the mind. This concept works both ways for good or bad; light or darkness. We are what we see and when our eyes only see evil, our whole body will be full of darkness. The eye is the lamp of the body and when our eyes are "good," that which we perceive is "healthy," then our whole body will be full of light. (Matthew 6: 22-23)

The eyes tell our feelings, without actions or words, and it is what we see through them that resonate in our minds. It's the difference between compassion and callousness; resenting and forgiving; good and evil, and ultimately light and darkness.

I can't read minds, but I can read eyes, some more telling than others. And it is those telling gates that an inmate cannot close off. Choosing the absence of light is choosing not to see.

~~~UNDERSTANDING BEGINS WITH THE EYES~~~~