icons

did you know that icons are considered written, not drawn or painted? they're written, just as scribes wrote and copied ancient texts. icons are written and copied, following the images that have been passed down for centuries.

i find that fascinating.

icons are not prayed to, but prayed with. this is done much in the same way as many of us will pray with scripture, by keeping a verse or passage in mind as we pray, or repeating words we've heard and read in the bible to God as we speak with the Divine.

icons tell stories, just as the bible does.

this icon pictured here is our mother of perpetual help. Gabriel is in the top left, holding the spear and pole with the sponge filled with vinegar that will be used in Christ's passion. Michael is on the right, holding the cross and nails that will bring Christ's redeeming death. Mary holds Jesus, comforting him, while seeing her loss that will come with his suffering. Jesus, having seen the future that awaits him, runs to his mother for comfort, losing a sandal along the way.

it's a beautiful representation of the incarnation, isn't it? to put that in english, God became man, not just man, but a child, a child who would need his mother and seek comfort in her arms. now, we have the Spirit as our comforter, in all our needs.

we will experience pain and face difficulties, but none so much as what Jesus did. it wasn't easy for him, and it won't be easy for us. i guess it's most encouraging to see that he needed comfort from other humans, not only from his heavenly father. that just seems to open up the door for us, to not just seek understanding from Jesus, or comfort from the Spirit, or strength from the Father, but to realize that community - friends and family - can bring us through these times as well. Jesus, God himself, had to rely on the people around him - his mom, friends, brothers - and we can do the same.

i think that icons can change the way i pray.