Perspectives on God
There are 4 icons on the prayer trail in the woods in my back yard. Two of them are back to back, but due to how the trail winds around, one is near the start and one near the middle or end of the trail. You can't seem them both at the same time of course. One is Christ crucified on the cross. The other is the descent into hell, or the icon representing Pascha, Christ' resurrection. I purposely put those icons together only inches apart, yet far separate on the trail. That seems analagous to me of how the theology of them both go together.
There is no resurrection without the crucifixion, and and their is no Christ crucified without acknowledging his rising from the tomb. They are two sides of the same coin. Yet when I gaze at each of the icons, completely different emotions and thoughts come to mind. To see my Lord God and Saviour on the cross is a humbling experience. I realize how sinful I am, and I sense the pain He took for me and the sins of the world. I reflect on how vespers on Holy Friday brings the same thoughts, as I contemplate what a price God paid for my salvation.
For all the sadness and mourning that I sense from that icon, viewing Christ' rising from the tomb brings opposite emotions. How joyful the thought of our resurrected Saviour! How powerful the happiness from knowing He is alive! Where I see Christ reaching down and pulling Adam and Eve from hell, I sometimes picture my hand, my soul, my life being brought to life by His power and love. Yet these two seemingly vastly different pericopes are one and the same. As I meditate on this thought, I realize how too often I focus on one icon over the other. Maybe's it's my emotion at the time, or my personality. But I must remember how great our God is that the full spectrum of emotion, of intellect, of life, are encompassed in Him.
A.W. Tozer in his "The Knowledge of the Holy" writes about the attributes of God. So many attributes of God appear to contrast: His mercy and justice, His love and holiness, His transcedence and His immanence. These last two stand out in my mind. How can a God that is so immense, so unknowing, so "other", be omnipresent and so close? I saw a t-shirt last week with the face of Christ with the slogan "Jesus is my homeboy". While that was borderline sacreligious to me, to the person wearing it, it was just an expression of their understanding of the immanence of God. Maybe my Orthodox emphasis on reverence comes across cold to that same person, while it is simply my expression of the transcendence of God.
We are told we can't be all things to all people. But can God be all things to all people? He is all things that are good, all that express love, beauty, joy and peace. How much of my thought of God is due to my personal preference and perspective, and how much is His truth? I remind myself while walking past those icons of the icon on the other side. And I realize God is so great my thought can certainly not contain all that He is.
There is no resurrection without the crucifixion, and and their is no Christ crucified without acknowledging his rising from the tomb. They are two sides of the same coin. Yet when I gaze at each of the icons, completely different emotions and thoughts come to mind. To see my Lord God and Saviour on the cross is a humbling experience. I realize how sinful I am, and I sense the pain He took for me and the sins of the world. I reflect on how vespers on Holy Friday brings the same thoughts, as I contemplate what a price God paid for my salvation.
For all the sadness and mourning that I sense from that icon, viewing Christ' rising from the tomb brings opposite emotions. How joyful the thought of our resurrected Saviour! How powerful the happiness from knowing He is alive! Where I see Christ reaching down and pulling Adam and Eve from hell, I sometimes picture my hand, my soul, my life being brought to life by His power and love. Yet these two seemingly vastly different pericopes are one and the same. As I meditate on this thought, I realize how too often I focus on one icon over the other. Maybe's it's my emotion at the time, or my personality. But I must remember how great our God is that the full spectrum of emotion, of intellect, of life, are encompassed in Him.
A.W. Tozer in his "The Knowledge of the Holy" writes about the attributes of God. So many attributes of God appear to contrast: His mercy and justice, His love and holiness, His transcedence and His immanence. These last two stand out in my mind. How can a God that is so immense, so unknowing, so "other", be omnipresent and so close? I saw a t-shirt last week with the face of Christ with the slogan "Jesus is my homeboy". While that was borderline sacreligious to me, to the person wearing it, it was just an expression of their understanding of the immanence of God. Maybe my Orthodox emphasis on reverence comes across cold to that same person, while it is simply my expression of the transcendence of God.
We are told we can't be all things to all people. But can God be all things to all people? He is all things that are good, all that express love, beauty, joy and peace. How much of my thought of God is due to my personal preference and perspective, and how much is His truth? I remind myself while walking past those icons of the icon on the other side. And I realize God is so great my thought can certainly not contain all that He is.
posted by Jeff at
4:44 PM
