There is a growing interest in icons these days.

I’m not talking about the icons which reside on your computer desktop and connect you to different computer programs. Rather I am referring to the ancient (and not so ancient) painting of saints which are intended to draw us into the presence of God. Often used as a tool for meditation, these icons pull the ob-server into and beyond what is on the sur-face of the picture of a saint or holy person into a deeper relation with the mystery of God.

In other words, the viewer not only sees what is painted but experiences the power of the divine that lies behind the picture.

While I am not certain it is techni-cally correct, I use the term “icon” to speak of other experiences that draw me into God’s presence. For example, some music becomes an icon for me. As I listen to melodies intertwined with complex or sim-ple harmonies, I sometimes experience the mystery of God in that moment. The infi-nite possibilities for music remind me of the infiniteness of God, with each melody or harmony but one new aspect of the one who can only be known and experienced in part. Yet God continues to be present, al-ways revealing more and more as the jour-ney goes forward.
Some people are also icons, not be-cause they are such great folks, but rather by virtue of the office to which they have been called by the community of faith. Specifically, I am speaking about the office of deacon. Yes, a deacon is called to be for the church “an icon of the servant Christ”. When I encounter a deacon, I meet one who has been set apart by the church in ordination with this prayer: “As your Son came not to be served but to serve, may this deacon share in Christ’s ser-vice” (BCP, p. 545).

The work of deacon is to draw you and me into the mysterious presence of the One who came to serve in such a way that we, too, are energized to join in Christ’s service in the world. The work of deacon is not to do the servant ministry of Christ for us or in our stead. Rather, as we see the deacon ever beckoning us through the life one leads, so we are motivated to step out into the world to be the hands and heart of Jesus where the need is the greatest, where the pain is beyond our imagination.

If we did not have icons to draw us into the presence of God, our spiritual life and journey would be diminished. We would have fewer opportunities to experi-ence the mystery of God. And if we did not have deacons, our discipleship to Jesus would be diminished. We could easily for-get that a life centered in Jesus Christ is not about our “getting” anything. Rather, it is about giving of ourselves as servant, as ministry launched in our baptism and sus-tained and strengthened as we live ever more deeply into the mystery that is God.

I am grateful for icons. And I am eternally grate-ful for deacons who challenge me through their iconic life and witness to become a servant of Christ and a servant to Christ’s people. Through their ministry I discover a balance in my life that leads me to give as well as receive. It is a blessing of God’s economy and the Church’s polity that helps make sense of the world and my place in it.

All of you across our diocese remain in my prayers, and I give thanks for your prayers for one another as our journey goes forward. May you know and experience God’s blessing and peace, now and always.