This Sunday in worship, Trinity Sunday, we'll be thinking about the topic of what "Sensing the Holy" might mean for us today.
Though in the Baptist tradition, we don't normally talk about icons, it is often in icons, like the cover art that you are going to find on the front of the bulletin this week, we find representations of the holy. Icon is a Greek word that means "image." Throughout Christian history, especially during the time when literacy was not a privilege, not an opportunity for all, icons were used to teach or inspire the masses. Icons told the stories of the faith.
Icons, limited as they may be, are human responses to the divine presence in a life. They are a way we seek to express what it means to know the divine. Protestant's have traditionally feared them because of the transition to worship of the icons can take place instead of the One who is being portrayed. Yet, I don't think this always has to be the case when used properly. Especially for the most visual of us, images can help us engage something that we might not have otherwise grasped.
The Trinity being such the mystery that it is, we need all the help we can get in seeking to understand. Maybe an icon is just what we need?
Watch this short clip from an artist who was making an icon to be displayed at my former home, Duke Divinity School. The artist tells of her experience of what making an icon meant to her.
Click here: Audio slideshow: For the glory of God | Faith & Leadership
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to Sunday. And, in case you are wondering, the icon image on this blog post is: by Russian artist, Andrei Rublev c. 1360-1430.
