As those pictures of family and friends remind us of the love we share with those people, icons remind us of the love that we share with God and with all the saints who have come before us. While there are many incredible writings about the power of icons, many theologians have offered a more simple description of them as similar to the pictures of family or friends that we have in our homes.
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Icons are considered to be windows into heaven with a special power to reveal spiritual truths to us. Though icons are very complex in form, they are rather simple in use. Each detail of the icon is meant to communicate and represent something to the person praying with it. Nevertheless, there is a reason for every little detail of the icon – the facial features, the bodily postures, the colors, the shapes, and the symbols. Because icons are created for spiritual purposes, they are not meant to be realistic depictions of what the people actually looked like. Though icons may look simple at first glance, they are in fact incredibly complex and detailed. An icon is a special painting or visual representation of Jesus, a biblical figure, or a saint. The word “icon” comes from the Greek word “eikon” which is usually translated image. Icons play a major role in the worship and prayer life of Eastern Orthodox Christians and, to a lesser extent, some Western Christians as well. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He is the head of the body, the church he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the image (Greek: “eikon”) of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers-all things have been created through him and for him. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
If you know me, you will know my Father also. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
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