Modesty and Sacred Things and a Little Irreverence

So, still listening to Our Life in Christ Archives, though now I'm in the middle of a three episode series on the Virgin Mary.

They were talking about sacred objects/space, and of course a little modesty got thrown in there for good measure.

One amusing (to me) point they raised, when speaking of typology of Mary in the Old Testament, and her being a new Ark (typologically). And they were trying to give the listener some sort of idea about the Jewish perspective on Holy things, things that God Himself has touched or dwelled in. So we would understand, perhaps, how Joseph felt about Mary having been informed that she was carrying God in her womb. And they relayed a story of how, when the Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem by David's army, it slipped, and was falling to the ground. A man reached out to catch it, to keep it from hitting the ground. And got *toasted* for his trouble. And, being me, I snickered, and thought, were I Joseph? I wouldn't have ever gotten near Mary. Just in case. :)

Anyway...

One of the hosts, and I honestly can't tell them apart at this point, from their voices, was relating sacred space and modesty and all that, and told a story about his daughter from a few years back. She was nine-ish at the time, and, as the story goes, they were talking about the body being the temple for the Holy Spirit, and how, in church, there are some things that she (and others) are not qualified to touch. Only the priest is. And how, because our bodies are temples for God, most people aren't qualified to touch them. Or look at them, etc. Kind of a cute story.

And then, there was a sort of discussion going on elsewhere, where someone claimed that 70's style jeans and sweaters, etc. were modest and we didn't need to follow Biblical standards of modesty anymore, because this is 2009, not 209. And those of us who would follow a more old fashioned form of modesty should give up all modern amenities as well. *rolls eyes*

Since I missed the 70's, entirely, I had to look up what 70's style jeans were. Let's have a comparison, shall we?

On the left we have a muslimah style outfit. I find it very pretty and modest, but ya'll could guess that, right?

On the right we have a 70's style pair of jeans and a shirt. Erm...huh.

Icons, Part Deux

First, from the production notes from Our Life in Christ, October 3, 2004 - Icons in the Orthodox Faith Part 2:

I. The Image or Icon of God

a. While man was forbidden to create an image of the invisible God for worship, we must remember that Man was created in the image of God - Adam and Eve are together clearly the Icon of God. As a matter of fact, the Church teaches that all human beings are the icon of God

i. "Then God said, let us make man in our image (icon), after our likeness…so God created man in his own image." (Icon) (Genesis 1:26 and 27)

ii. The Icon of God has been marred however, in that Adam and Eve sinned. Fallen, sinful Man is still in the image of God, but tragically, it is not the original image. In the OT, God is dealing with sinful man prior to the "Fullness of Time" - but when the time comes - Christmas!

iii. The Incarnation – The eternal Mystery of God is realized when God himself makes Himself into a human being, in order to show us the original image and save us so that we can become what we were intended to be. Nearly everything the Church does and says flows from this fact: Christ IS the image of the Father. He is the perfect Icon of God. And God is Human.

1. Christ is the icon of God: "He is the image (icon) of the unseen God." (Col. 1:15)

2. "He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature." (Hebrews 1:3).

3. "Philip said, ‘Lord, let see us the Father and then we shall be satisfied’ To have seen me is to have seen the Father, so how can you say, let us see the Father." (John 14:8-11)

iv. Affirming the Incarnation – affirming that the God-Man Jesus Christ is the perfect icon of God the Father, is perhaps the primary litmus test of Orthodox Christianity.

1. John 4:2,3 - By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God - this is the spirit of Antichrist…

v. In the Orthodox Church, the Icon is the celebration of the Incarnation and a witness against the Antichrist. In short, to the same degree that God, in the second commandment, emphatically prohibited the Jews from any futile attempt to create a material or visual likeness of Himself, the Orthodox Church, by the Holy Spirit, now encourages the creation, presence and veneration of icons as a celebration and testimony to God's incarnation as material man.

b. This honor is also extended to include the commemoration of His image and likeness in the heroic men and women of the Church, the Saints, the prototypes of His sanctification and holiness unto salvation. St John of Damascus wrote: "If you make an image of Christ, and not of the saints, it is evident that you do not forbid images, but refuse to honour the saints. You are not waging war against images but against the saints themselves." (The Defence of Icons)

-------------- And now for the article from the Orthodox Study Bible:

Many people have been taught that the second of the Ten Commandments prohibits icons. However, if correct, all artistic representations of anything would be forbidden. The Lord Himself in the same book of Exodus commanded Moses to make two gold cherubim (angels) "of hammered work," and to place them at each end of the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant (Ex 25:17-21). The Lord also stipulated that the ten curtains of the tabernacle be woven with images of cherubim on them (Ex 26:1), and likewise the veil (Ex 26:31).

When King Solomon built the temple, the huge basin, or "sea," was set upon twelve statues of oxen (3Kg 7:13, 30). And upon the ten bases of the sea were cast or engraved "lions, oxen, and cherubim" (3Kg 7:16), as well as palm trees (3Kg 7:22). The Lord bestowed His blessing upon all these artistic representations first by filling the new temple with His Glory (3Kg 8:10, 11), and then by declaring to Solomon, "I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually" (3Kg 9:3).

Perhaps a most striking example of an image made at God's command in the Old Testament is the bronze serpent that God ordered Moses to make and put on a pole in order to protect the Hebrews bitten by the deadly serpents (Nm 21:4-9; see Jn 3:14, 15). Hundreds of years later, when the Israelites were offering incense to this same bronze serpent in a kind of idol worship, King Hezekiah, who "did what was right in the sight of the Lord," had the serpent smashed into pieces (4Kg 18:3, 4).

So it is not the image itself which is faulty or prohibited, but rather its improper use. The prohibition in Exodus 20:4 is not against all artistic representations. Rather, it is against images, whether in human form or not, which would be worshipped as gods and goddesses - "gods of silver, and gods of gold" (Ex 20:23). For the Lord knew that such images would tempt the Hebrews to depart from worshipping Him, the One true God (Ex 20:3-5).

Certainly, before the invisible and limitless Lord God of Israel became incarnate, it was impossible to make an image of Him. However, after God the Son assumed the visible and tangible human body, it was natural and beneficial for the Church to create artistic representations of Him - and of His holy Mother and of the saints and angels - from the earliest times. According to tradition, St. Luke the Evangelist made at least three icons of Christ and His Mother.

Every image, or icon, of Christ has significant theological content. For it proclaims anew the Incarnation of God, who "became flesh" for our salvation (Jn 1:14). Recognized icons of our Savior, prayerfully made, provide us with inspired, trustworthy representations of Him.

The Seventh Ecumenical Council, held in Nicea in AD 787, condemned the heresy of iconoclasm (the rejection, and even destruction, of icons). These Holy Fathers articulated the critical distinction between the worship reserved for God alone, and the veneration/honor/reverence given to the icons. In addition, this Council declared that "the honor given to the image passes on to that which the image represents."

Through icons, Orthodox Christians are drawn closer to Christ. A hymn sung the first Sunday of Great Lent, which commemorates the restoration of icons in AD 843, declares: "the icons that depict Thy flesh lead us to the desire and love of Thee."

----------------

And just as a note to the above article, when they talk of veneration, honor, reverence given to the icons, it reminds me of the flag. We honor the American flag, or the British, or whatever nation's flag we happen to live in. However, we are, really, intending that honor, that respect, for the nation that the flag represents, not the cloth and colors of the flag itself. *However* drop an American flag to the ground. Unless you're surrounded by anarchists, somebody is going to get pissed and dive for that flag. Pick it up and respect it. Why? It's just cloth or plastic or what-have-you. It's the disrespect to what it stands for that they're insulted by.

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And one more quote, this from The Orthodox Church by Kallistos Ware, pg. 271 - 272:

The icons which fill the church serve as a point of meeting between heaven and earth. As each local congregation prays Sunday by Sunday, surrounded by the figures of Christ, the angels, and the saints, these visible images remind the faithful unceasingly of the invisible presence of the whole company of heaven at the Liturgy. The faithful can feel that the walls of the church open out upon eternity, and they are helped to realize that their Liturgy on earth is one and the same with the great Liturgy of heaven. The multitudinous icons express visibly the sense of 'heaven on earth'.

Icons

So, I've been listening to the archived podcasts from Our Life in Christ, which I found through one of Alana's posts. Because I am anal, I started at the beginning, which, aside from the *very* first one, which deals with Mark 2, has been six episodes on icons, and why they're not idolatry and their purpose and use in the life of the Church.

I could *try* to explain everything that was taught in the series, but it'd be a *very* long post, and I'd miss something, and it's just better if you go and listen/read the production notes yourself. The archives are here: Our Life in Christ Archives. The pertinent ones, though you can tell from the titles, are dated September 26, October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 and November 7, 2004. They're each 40-50 minutes long, and enjoyable, imho. Plus, in their breaks, you get some very lovely Orthodox music.

Just my brief, rambling impression from it:

God Himself was the first iconographer. Man was created in the image of God - we are an *icon* of Him. Does this mean that God looks like us? Nope. He is invisible, uncreated. So the physicality is not the 'image' of God. It's our souls, our spirits that are made in the image of God. Just as, in an icon, it's not an effort to represent the true to life physical image of the subject. An icon is written to express, in visual, physical terms, the truth of a spiritual reality.

There is only one reality, but, for the most part, we cannot see reality, as it really is, because of the schmutz that covers us. So, we're icons, but we're like old icons, covered in years of dirt and soot and fire damage. But, just as icons have been miraculously restored, so can we, as icons of God be restored. It involves, of course, being in Christ. Being the sword in the fire. Taking on (absorbing) the energies of God, but never, of course, the essence. And *remaining* in the fire. It all ties back to the concept of deification.

That's why, according to the program, icons don't have a light source for the subject. The light emanates from *within* the Saint.

When Christ revealed Himself at the Transfiguration, He was not adding something to Himself, He was merely *opening their eyes* to the true reality that had always been there, but that they had been unable to see.

There is, of course, so much more. But those are some of the, to my mind, more important things that stuck with me.

Edit: Because I keep forgetting to say that I am becoming unaccountably fond of St. John of Damascus

Start Your Daughters Off Young With Covering?

Not really...but I think it's a good title.

So, again, this is from my nostalgia over the weekend, but I had to bring them into work to scan them.

Was I not adorable?

I'm about a year old in both these pictures, so I can't say for certain what was going on at the time. However, I always did like to drape towels and blankets over my head and run around. Clearly, it started early. :)

And this is me, babushka style. :)

A Post That Probably Only Interests Me...

So, Memorial Day tomorrow, which always makes me think of my Grandfather who served in the Navy during WWII.

In my nostalgic mood, I was going through old family stuff, and came across a, well, I think it's a Lutheran prayerbook/missal that belonged to my Oma, my great-grandmother on my Grandmother's side. My German's not up to actually reading everything in it, but I thought it was interesting, so I post.

That's the cover. You can see there's been some damage...it got wet during Hurricane Charley a few years ago. The spine is almost totally destroyed, so we have to be very careful with it. We're hoping to find someone, eventually, who can repair the damage. Oma's name is embossed on it, Bertha Borger, which was her maiden name. She became a Schmidt when she married Opa (Gustav).

This is the first page

And here's a few lines...ah...in my bad German...

1st line: Intonation: He will protect you

2nd line: Response: And with your gift

3rd line: Int. - All eyes wait for you, Sir (probably meant to be Lord, but, again, my bad German)

4th: resp. - And you *something* their *something* in good time

Wow, my German's worse than I thought. *is ashamed* Actually, just to make myself feel a bit better, the book uses *really* old type, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what some of the letters even are...

Two Unconnected Thoughts From Genesis

Okay, First thought: The thought actually comes from the note at the bottom of the OSB, in ref. to Gen. 5:3 -

5:3 - Seth was begotten from Adam and Eve. This threefold relationship illustrates, to a certain extent, the Holy Trinity. Adam had no human father. He was begotten by no one. Thus, he was unbegotten. Seth was begotten from Adam. Eve was neither unbegotten nor begotten. Instead she proceeded from Adam (2:21). Therefore, Eve and Seth were related to the unbegotten Adam, but each in a unique manner - Eve proceeded from Adam, but Seth was begotten from him. Each person had his or her own distinct and unique properties - unbegotten, begotten and proceeding - but all three possessed the same human nature.

Similarly, the manner in which these three existed images the Holy Trinity. God the Father is Unbegotten; God the Son is Begotten from the Father, and God the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. These distinct and unique properties - unbegotten, begotten, and proceeding - distinguish each of the individual Persons of the Holy Trinity from each other; yet, They are one in nature. (John of Damascus) - Orthodox Study Bible, pg. 10

Okay, so, well all know that Amber doesn't take the entire Bible, word for word literally. Some parts are, some parts aren't. I don't believe that the very beginning, the creation, is literally what happened. I don't think God created woman out of man's rib. I view the Creation story as more myth and allegory, you know? But why the image of woman being created out of man? The above quote makes it make sense. Just quite nice to run into.

Second Thought:

The relevant bible passage is Gen. 16: 7 - 13, and, again, the thought comes from the notes:

16:7 - The Lord is the Father, and the Angel is His Son (Hilary of Poitiers). And the prophet Isaiah calls Him "the Angel of Great Counsel" (Is 9:5). "The Son is called Angel because He alone reveals the Father" (Athanasius the Great).

16:8 - The Lord asked Hagar questions, not because He was ignorant, but for Hagar's sake and for ours. After He became Man, He also asked questions in the four Gospels, not because He was ignorant, but for the sake of the immediate listeners and of the faithful. For He is God in the flesh, and therefore, never ignorant of anything (John of Damascus).

16:9 - Since He is God, the Angel Commanded Hagar. She obeyed (v. 15). This Angel is the Word of God.

16:10 - This statement by the Angel could not have been made by a created angel, for only God can say, "I will surely multiply your seed exceedingly, that it may not be counted because of its multitude." No created angel can do this. The Angel is God the Son.

16:11 - The Angel then spoke to Hagar concerning the Father and said, "The Lord has taken notice of your humiliation."

16:13 - Hagar called the Angel who appeared to her both Lord and God. The Church knows Him as the Only-begotten of the Father (Jn 1). As the Father's Only-begotten, He is "true God of true God" (Creed). One meaning of the name God is, 'You are the God who sees me'. The Only-begotten sees everything. So do God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. - OSB, pg. 21

Okay, so, a) never had anyone tell me that the angel in this passage was God. It makes sense, given the notes at the bottom. b) and this is a wacky thought, and I am aware of this, but here it be:

So, God is outside of time. When God the Son became Incarnated, the 'process' was irreversible. The human body was perfected, glorified, and taken up to Heaven. God the Son would, for all eternity, have that body. So, um, when people see the Angel, God the Son, in the Old Testament, could they be seeing the physical form of Jesus? Before He was, in linear time, born? Not that it makes any difference, it's just a wacky, wacky thought that occurred to me. Too much scifi?

Hello, My Name is Amber, and...

*cough* FREEEEEEEDOOOOOOM! *cackles like mad* And now we get to wait and see what the reaction is from the rest of the family, tomorrow morning.

So, um, please ignore the pjs and, you know, general frumpiness of my self.

also, nothing to do with the video, but, Supernatural season finale - so much awesome. So much. Where's my season five already?! And I'm gonna see Angels & Demons on Sunday. Hello Ewan McGregor...I've missed you...