"Bowing to Icons???!!!!" (R & R Reflections, 2)

In my last post, I shared my appreciation for the bows we brought to God and each other in our prayers throughout the day – with our “bows to God” being especially focused toward the icon at the front of the oratory (or worship center). Understanding the nature and symbolism of icons (especially from, say, a Greek Orthodox background) helped me tremendously to see and appreciate what, exactly, we were bowing to in the icon above.

• John the Baptist (standing to the right): understood as the last “Old Testament” figure, with words of the prophet on his lips and expectations of the Messiah (foretold and foreshadowed in the Old) in his heart

• Mary (standing to the left): the first person to accept Christ into her life and, therefore, the first of Christian believers

• Note that both John and Mary face Christ – conveying and emphasizing that is in Christ that the Old and New meet.

• The enthroned Christ (a throne, not so surprisingly, like Emperor Constantine’s arched throne) rests his feet on footstool – its corners reflecting the four corners of the universe… Jesus is Lord of all. (Note how Christ, even when seated, is as big as John and Mary. Clearly, he’s not only central but bigger than them both!)

• Note the significance of colors and the message of colors in the icon. Blue is the color of divinity, red humanity, gold and white the glory and the light of God. The white areas or lines on the flesh and clothing represent the transfigured light of Christ. Accordingly: Christ is part and emerges out of the glory and light of God, Christ is divine and puts on humanity, Mary (representing all of us) is human and takes on divinity,…

• In Christ’s halo are the Greek letters which comprise the word “ego” or “I am.” That it is in the circle of the halo speaks of repetition. Reminiscent of God’s words to Moses: Christ is the eternal “I am”: “I am what I am” and “I will be what I will be.”
  

• Christ holds the Bible, the Word open with his left hand. Not so surprisingly, the text is from John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” His right hand is held up in blessing. Hard to see in the icon above (but clear in the inset from another icon) are two fingers held up (conveying the two natures of Christ, human and divine) and the other three fingers coming together (signifying the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

It was clear to me… and it should be clear, I believe, to the open-minded and open-hearted among us and around us: that our bowing in front of the icon on our way into the worship was not any king of idolatry but a real gesture of reverence for the Lord of all Creation (to which the icon points, to which the icon is a window). In much the same way, when I put my cross necklace on in the morning, I do not see my kissing it as a worship of the metal or even the cross as much as a way of kissing Christ.

The story was told, in fact, during our time apart of a woman who could not understand why her father would kiss a bedside picture of her departed mother each night before he went to sleep. Upon hearing and unpacking some of the meanings of the icon and the real grounds for bowing, it became clear: the old man was not kissing a picture as much as he was kissing his beloved goodnight.

My Jesus, my Saviour

Lord there is none like You

All of my days, I want to praise

The wonders of Your mighty love

My comfort, my shelter

Tower of refuge and strength

Let every breath, all that I am

Never cease to worship You

Shout to the Lord

All the earth let us sing

Power and majesty

Praise to the King

Mountains bow down

And the seas will roar

At the sound of Your name

I sing for joy

At the work of Your hands

Forever I’ll love You

Forever I’ll stand

Nothing compares to the promise

I have in You

"Take a Bow!" (Reflections from R & R, 1)

Returning from a most meaningful time of rest and re-creation – perhaps the most meaningful I have had in recent memory. There was time for personal retreat and renewal – participating for the better part of a week in a “Benedictine Experience” in Dallas. There was real time to work and sweat – with downtime to read and pray – here around the house as we set up home. (I’d say we are 95% of the way done: cars are in the garage, only a half dozen boxes sitting in a closet [where they can stay], ceiling fans hung,… Really, only some pictures to hang!) And, then, there was participation in a “Day of Wellness” for clergy at Methodist Hospital. Yes, there could have been a few more day trips sprinkled in – and seeing friends out and around. Still, though, it was most meaningful time of “Sabbath.”

So meaningful, in fact, that I thought I’d take a few postings to process… and to share reflections and insights and gleanings from this time apart.

I begin with (and probably have the most to share from) the “Benedictine Experience” in Dallas at the end of June. It’s designed as an opportunity for the those so interested (lay and clergy… across denominational lines) to get a taste of living the life and prayer rhythm of a monastic lifestyle -- with lectures sprinkled in on Benedictine Spirituality (i.e., Spirituality and Theology and Devotional Rhythm emanating from the ancient Rule of St. Benedict). It’s long been an interest of mine. (See previous posts.) Truly, it was a refreshing experience that opened my mind and heart to alternative ways of prayer and devotion and living.

A quite simple and innocent gesture is among the first things I’d elevate and reflect upon: coming into the Oratory (i.e., the worship center) and bowing – bowing to an icon reflective of the Christ in our midst… and, before taking our seats, bowing to others in the room. No, we were not bowing to the icon but bowing to the Lord and Savior it conveyed – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit behind it. And the bow we made to one another? It was simply a way, with our bodies, of affirming the sacredness of the others in the room – the reality that Christ is in our neighbor.

I know that we Protestants can misunderstand and misjudge our Catholic brothers and sisters as they employ their holy water and genuflections and do their signs of the cross. (I am relieved that our misunderstandings and especially our judgments are not as pronounced as they used to be!) Refreshing for me, though, was the way that my body was a part of my spirit in the Worship and Devotion: bowing had me truly feeling that I was in the presence of the Holy – truly in the presence of a Lord and King who was more than worthy of a bow. And bowing to my neighbor had me truly feeling a more profound sense of the sacredness and worth of the other. In a way, the bowing of morning, noon, evening and night prayer times had me “bowing” throughout the day – well beyond the worship center. I found myself walking with a much more contrite heart throughout the “sanctuary” of the day and our retreat facilities.

So, take a bow! Trace a sign of the cross over mind and heart and soul! Let your fingers touch the sacred and mysterious waters of life and baptism! And, amidst it all, ask your self if it does not find – in this cooperation, this convergence of body and action and soul and creed – a certain heightening of devotion and reverence in your deeper spirit and soul!

We bow down,

We cast our crowns

At the feet of Jesus.

The greatness of

His mercy and love...

at the feet of Jesus

And we cry holy, holy, holy,

Holy, holy, holy…

is the Lamb.