Icon

Our subject in Images of God this week was icons, but the subject actually came up the week before in a post by one of the four guys in my sub-group. (in order to build a closer relationship throughout the term, the prof subdivided us into groups of four and five. This helps draw us closer; that, and the Voodoo doughnuts I bought during our face time cemented it.) The lesson was from C. Baxter Kruger's The Great Dance: Christian Vision Revisited which teaches us that God has invited us to an amazing dance, and that we have become so enamored of our own sinfulness that we have forgotten that the purpose behind the savior was to invite us to the Eden Dance, not to have a kid save us from an abusive parent. We were all moved by this image, of an inviting God, but one of us was terrified by the prospect. He said the reading made him think of Rublev's icon of the Trinity: 

This is truly one of the most incredible creations by any human being, but it was a source of anxiety for our group, because we realize that there's no kid's table. We are to be seated with the father, son and holy spirit. We are in the game, and that can be a lot less comfortable than sitting at the next table in adoration. In order to make him feel better about it, I used my awesome Microsoft Paint skills to come up with this:

I can't believe I even forgot to click off so that John still has the editing square around him. Sorry John!

That's our little motley crew, chillin' at the Trinity's table. I do not mean to disrespect a work of art I greatly admire, but I hope it helped a fella in crisis. I think it did cheer us all a bit, to think that we are invited to the table, to the dance, to the wedding - whichever metaphor you would like to employ. I love how lovingly each member is looking at these obvious interlopers. Better to photoshop in the pope or Mother Theresa. 

But then I thought, no, this is exactly what I wanted to say, that none of us belong at God's table, and no matter how perfect we try to be, and how many souls we save and how many mouths we feed, we are still not good enough to be at that table.

But we were invited; and that makes all the difference. We may not sit at the right hand of the father, but we may get to visit; won't that be amazing!

So this week's reading was actually on icons; we read an article by Jim Foster, who used - guess what? - the Rublev as an example of the highest form of the art. He said it is a corridor to heaven, not in a real way, but in a transformative way. We look at this icon, and see the reality of heaven.

Same with mine. See you there in 50 years, guys!