Icons
"Acting, speaking, and even reflective thinking may at times be too demanding, but we are forever seeing. When we dream, we see. When we stare in front of us, we see. When we close our eyes to rest, we see. We see clearly or vaguely, but always we find things to see.
But what do we really choose to see? It makes a great difference whether we see a flower or a snake, a gentle smile or menacing teeth, a dancing couple or a hostile crowd. We do have a choice. Just as we are responsible for what we eat, so we are responsible for what we see. It is easy to become a victim of the vast array of visual stimuli surrounding us. The "powers and principalities" control many of our daily images. Posters, billboards, television, videos, movies and store windows continuously assault our eyes and inscribe their images upon our memories.
Still we do not have to be passive victims of a world that wants to entertain and distract us. We can make some decisions. A spiritual life in the midst of our energy-draining society requires us to take conscious steps to safeguard that inner space where we can keep our eyes fixed on the beauty of the Lord.
By giving icons long and prayerful attention -- talking about them, reading about them, but mostly just gazing at them, -- I have gradually come to know them by heart. I see them now whether they are physically present or not. I have memorized them as I have memorized the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and I pray with them wherever I go.
.. Gazing is probably the best word to touch the core of Eastern spirituality. Whereas St. Benedict, who has set the tone for the spirituality of the West, calls us first of all to listen, our Byzantine forebears focus on gazing. This is especially evident in the liturgical life of the Eastern church.
Icons offer access, through the gate of the visible, to the mystery of the invisible. Icons are painted to lead us into the upper room of prayer and bring us close to the heart of God.
Icons are made according to age-old rules. Their forms and colors depend not merely upon imagination and taste of the iconographer, but are handed down from generation to generation in obedience to venerable traditions. The iconographer's first concern is not personal glory but the proclamation of God's kingdom through art. Icons are meant to have a place in the sacred liturgy and are thus painted in accordance with the demands of the liturgy. As does the liturgy itself, icons try to give us a glimpse of heaven."
From: Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons by Henri Nouwen
