Blessed is the Kingdom

Seeking The Kingdom In All Things

Preparation comes first

DSCN0129[1]Today I began adding the first set of highlights to the icon of Gabriel. This is one of the more stressful steps of the process for me as one must create layers of light that will continue to shine out from the image. It takes a good eye, and skill in blending the paints well.

As I began working on the highlights for the hair, my friend Bill, who has been writing icons much longer than I have, simply said, “First decide how the highlight should look, imagine yourself doing it, practice once without paint, then paint the highlight onto the image.” He then reminded me that this is another one of the spiritual aspects of writing an icon. If we want to grow in holiness, we need first to have the knowledge of what the Christian life should look like, then we must imagine ourselves doing it. Next we must prepare ourselves to meet the challenges of following Christ, and only after these initial steps will we be ready to live as disciples of Christ.

Just as it is important to prepare our hands, mind, heart and spirit in order to write an icon, it is all the more imperative when it comes to the life of faith.

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This entry was posted by on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 7:18 pm and is filed under light, preparation, St. Gabriel the Archangel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Fr. Christian is the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City, TN.

Comments

  • precious cup

    Father your icon is looking beautiful! Thank you for your interpritation of that thought. I have struggled bringing my spiritual icon into view. I want so badly to show what I see in my head and feel in my heart, but somehow the image I see of myself. The image God sees of me, is more perfect than anything I can create. Maybe it’s in the thought, the image he gives me in my heart that I have to find peace. Trying to replicate that image in lifesense? needs encouragement. Does that make sense?

  • Fr. Christian Mathis

    It makes perfect sense to me.

  • Mark

    I’m greatly enjoying this series of posts about writing icons, and I find the extended analogy between the process of writing an icon and growing in the life of faith very helpful, and, indeed, illuminating.

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