Dear Friends
A couple of weeks ago we had photographer Willem and his wife Tjitske staying with us here at Colomba le Roc. Willem came to get a feel for the place and take pictures we plan to use for a flyer and possibly also for our website. Photographs therefore meant to give potential guests an impression of our retreat house.
And so Willem and I walked around the buildings , the garden and the woods, choosing places and items we liked. After a week Willem managed to create a big file full of beautiful pictures, but as I now have to choose suitable ones for our flyer I realise that it is not just about beautiful photographs it is about what they are saying; the message behind them.
What does each picture chosen say about Colomba le Roc about what we’re about, about the message we want to share. What message are we “writing” with our pictures?
As I reflected on this I thought of icons….
Nowadays the word icon will be familiar to most people who speak English as it is such an essential part of our computer and internet –led world. But recently I wondered if many people had thought about the reason for which an otherwise religious word came to play such a big role in everybody’s daily life.
Why did the people who created this new language not just use the term picture or image?
And the more I thought about the more I realised that the word icon was very aptly chosen. For an icon is not really about the image you can see it points towards something bigger. So for example if you see an icon of a little white bird on a blue background you click it not to see a bird but to receive or write messages. If you drag the white telephone receiver on a green background you do that not because you’re fond of old fashioned telephones but because you intend to speak to someone. Click on two musical notes and you’ll be able to listen not just to one song but to a complete concert!
One icon can open a whole world to us. So our modern icons have indeed much in common with the religious icons we know so well from the Eastern Orthodox church. For religious icons are not meaningful in themselves, it is not about the picture you see, or the saint it represents, an Christian icon is a window (another link with the computer world!) a window to something much bigger much more complete; a window to God.
Not surprising therefore that icons are not “painted” after all they are not pictures. Icons are “written” because they are a message. They have meaning, they are even beautiful because of what or rather who they lead us to.
And so I hope that after much reflection we will manage to choose photographs which in a very small way will are that very thing: a message telling us that retreats are first and foremost about experiencing God’s love and (re)discovering his presence in our lives.
May God bless you all
Joanne
Rev Joanne Evans-Boiten 