To the fish on Friday bit. The following is helping me to clear up some misapprehension I have had about the use of icons in the church. Up to today I thought them a tool to focus ones attention towards God and the works of God through the use of such things. Just as I have used my beads and the word and meaning behind Ma ra na tha, (come lord Jesus come, or The Lord is here.) To try and deny ego and sense of separate sense and attain unity with all. The following has been immense help. Especially as although I have to be in this world, but not of it, I do give a lot of credence to the words of saints. So now I do believe they are more than what I thought them to be. Hmm, is this about thoughts becoming more substantial knowledge? Ponder.
The Holy Icons
On the first Sunday in Lent, the Orthodax Church celebrates `the Triumph of Orthodoxy`, which is more particularly a feast in honour of the holy icons. The icon, as the following passages indicate, is to an Orthodox Christian much more than a piece of religious decoration. It has a liturgical and theological significance, safeguarding the true value of material things and man`s power, as priest of the creation, to transfigure the cosmos.
We preserve unchanged all the traditions of the Church, whether handed down to us in written or unwritten form. Of these traditions, one is the painting of icons. The pictorial image in iconography and the virbal narrative in the Gospels are in agreement with one another, and both alike emphasize that the incarnation of God the Word is genuine and not illusory.
THE SEVENTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
Of old the incorporial and invisible God was not depicted at all; but now, since God has appeared in flesh and dwelt among men, I make an icon of God in so far as he has become visible. I do not venerate matter but I venerate the Creator of matter, who for my sake has become material, who has been pleased to dwell in matter and has through matter effected my salvation. I shall not cease to venerate matter, for it was through matter that my salvation came to pass. Do not insult matter, for it is not without honour; nothing is without honour that God has made.
ST JOHN OF DAMASCUS
Through man alone the material becomes articulate in praise of God. Because man is body he shares in the material world aroun him, which passes within him through his sense perceptions. Because man is mind he belongs to the world of higher reality and pure spirit. Because he is both, he is, in Cyril of Alexandria`s phrase, `God`s crowned image`; he can mould and manipulate the material and render it articulate. The sound in a Bysantine hymn, the gestures in a liturgy, the bricks in a church, the cubes in a mosaic are matter made articulate in the divine praise.
FATHER GERVASE MATHEW
The artistic perfection of an icon is not only a reflection of the celestial glory - it is a concrete example of matter restored to ists original harmony and beauty, and serving as a vehicle of the Spirit. The icons are part of the transfigured cosmos.
NICOLAS ZERNOV
Because man is made in the image and likeness of God, there is something divine about the act of paintin an icon.
ST THEODORE THE STUDITE
Grace (Not, Grrr Ace)
Okay the following was first written by Milton Jones, who in turn was first made by God, who in turn just was, is and always will be. Will be what? Will be and is the greatest everything which is good. (obviously not the greatest liar! Nope sir. That was the job an angel fell into!). Okay, without further ado, here, coming up is. The grate. The bewildered Milton Jones.
Grace is fantastic when you receive it, but can be
strangely annoying when you see others benefiting
from it, especially if they seem to have had more
fun than you in the meantime. I may have got
through the traffic lights in the nick of time, but
what about the others who got through after me?
Surely the policeman will throw the book at them?
They were definitely in the wrong. But what`s this?
He lets them off with a warning. And a hug!?
Hang on a minute ....
I think God is like Mozart, and we are the notes.
God is the AA, (Automobile Association) and we are the breakdowns.
Peace
Peace is knowing the reason not to be
frightened by the facts this time.
Well my brothers and sisters in Christ and also those who are not; I wish you peace and love. Your brother in Christ and of Buddha and all the saints, Peter G Kimble
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