Afternoon Activity: Icons as Mirrors

Objectives: to study icons and see how our own inner states reflect on our reading of them. It is very important to follow the procedure exactly so that everyone understands what they are doing.

Materials: Enough icons, primarily of saints, for each person to have a choice. Question sheets with instructions

Procedure: follow the Instruction sheets. To summarize:

• Have each participant team up with a partner.
• Have each participant select an icon.
• Follow the instruction sheet for each of the partner.
• When all have finished sheet 1, pass out sheet 2
• Follow sheet 2.
• When everyone is done with the first part, have them join up in their groups for further discussion.
• Bring them back to the main group to discuss the whole project. The whole procedure should take up the hour.

It is completely possible that there are people who will not get this or be confused. Try to get them not to over analyze and to let the whole procedure carry through. The main point to get is that how we view the world, God, etc. is colored continuously by our own internal states. This is especially so with icons, which are specifically dispassionate in character, allowing us to relate to them on the basis of our own emotional and spiritual states. The selection process of the icon allows them to find one that already speaks to something within their soul. The questions then evoke the deeper meaning of that something intuitively. Finally, the changing of the diction to first person and reading it aloud brings the intuitive to the surface for self-awareness.

Closing Song: In your Eyes

The Icon plays a very special role in Orthodox spirituality. Not only are they mirrors to our own souls, they are also windows into heaven. When we read deeply into them and what they have to teach us, we begin to discover the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ said, "The Kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21) To find it we must first get passed the surface of the image, the image we see in the mirror. We must look deeper into the eyes of Christ, as he looks deep within us.

Take a large Icon of our Lord Jesus Christ, one with particularly expressive eyes. Play the song, In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. At the second verse, begin to walk around the room holding the icon in both hands as if in procession, at eye level for those who are sitting. Slowly walk around and let the participants look into the eyes of Christ as the words of the song play out. At the end of the song dismiss

Instructions Sheet 1: Icon Study

Select one icon for yourself that grabs your attention. Your partner will do the same, picking their own icon.

Choose which person will go first. Each person takes a turn.

Your partner will ask you a few questions about your icon. The job of your partner is to write down what you say for you as exactly as possible.

Take a minute to look at your icon. If the icon depicts more than one person in it then select one of those persons depicted and study them.

Your partner will ask you the following questions about that person and write down your answers for you:

1. Describe that person physically. What do they look like?

2. Describe that person mentally: What are they thinking?

3. Describe that person emotionally: What are they feeling?

4. Describe what that person is doing. Tell a little story about them.

If you have no idea how to answer the question then use your imagination and make up an answer that makes sense or feels right to you!

After you have answered all these questions, switch with your partner and let them do the same. When you are both done wait for Instructions Sheet 2

Instructions Sheet 2: Icon Study

Now that you have recorded your partners answers for them, you will need to recopy them onto this sheet with one special difference. Wherever they describe the person in the third person (she is, he is, he looks like, she feels, etc.) change the sentence to the first person (I am, I look like, I feel, etc.) Rewrite all their answers using these "I" statements in the space below to the corresponding question numbers.

1. Physically

2. Mentally

3. Emotionally

4. Spiritually

When you complete this sheet, give it to your partner and have them read it aloud to you, and vice-versa.

Afterwards, discuss the following in your small groups:

1. How did my reading of the icon reflect on my own personality when it was turned into "I" statements?

2. What can I apply to my self from what I saw in the Icon?

3. How are the icons like a mirror, reflecting ourselves back at us?

4. The word "Icon" literally means "image." The Bible says that we are created "in the image of God." How am I reflecting God's image back to Him? How not?
7:00 Last Talk

Over the last day we have been talking a lot about faith, without perhaps actually focusing on that word. About what it means to have faith, to hold faith, and to keep faith.

The fact is having faith can be very difficult. There are a lot of challenges along the way. There is also a lot of help along the way as well. God has a reason for letting it be hard-it helps us to grow.

(Talk about a struggle you've dealt with and maybe are still not sure about and how the struggle has deepened your faith and awareness of God)

St. Paul also struggled with faith much of his life. He talks about his struggle, saying:
"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. What we see now is like the dim image in a mirror; then we shall see [God] face to face. What I know now is only partial, then it will be complete, as complete as God's knowledge of me. Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:11-13)

Even though St. Paul knew God as well as anyone ever has, he still spoke of his knowledge being partial and incomplete. What carried him through life was faith, hope, and love, and love most of all.

Song: Kite

Small Group discussion 5:

• What is this song about? What are the main ideas you get from it?
• Do the lyrics suggest the singer has all the answers to life's questions? If not, how does the singer resolve the problem?
• Is it okay not to know all the answers? Why? Why not?
• We were asked earlier what the greatest challenges to our belief are. Do you feel this obstacles are too great to overcome or can you commit to faith in Jesus Christ knowing that not all of your questions are resolved? Would you like to be able to?

In the end, being a Christian is not about us. It's not about the baggage we bring. As the song Walk On says, love is the only baggage you can bring. The song Kite is related. It's about letting go of something, or someone, and saying goodbye. It's about leaving what you don't need behind and stepping into the future with faith, knowing that this is not the end, this is not goodbye.

		Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry Orthodox Church in America PO Box 675 Syosset, NY 11791 http://yya.oca.org yyacm@oca.org The Hub | Back to top