Orthodox Iconographer & Icon Collector's Story of Their First Icon | This Is Orthodoxy | TIO002 CWP068

The story of the first icon they ever purchased.

This is Orthodoxy.

Can a simple antique shop visit transform your spiritual life? Join us on an extraordinary journey through the world of Orthodox Christian icons, featuring an inspiring story that began for Mike and Laurie in an unexpected corner of Seattle. In this episode, we recount the serendipitous acquisition of their first sacred icons and explore the profound impact they have had on their faith. These icons, often depicting saints as ordinary people quietly honoring their devotion, have brought a deeper sense of connection and spirituality into their daily lives.  They can do the same for you.

Listen in as we discuss how these humble images remind us of the "great cloud of witnesses" mentioned in Hebrews 11, surrounding us with saints who intercede for us at all times. We reflect on how such simple yet powerful symbols can enrich one's spiritual journey, connecting us to a larger community of faith that spans both time and space. Whether you’re an avid collector or simply curious about the spiritual significance of religious icons, this episode promises to provide an enriching and deeply moving perspective.

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Thank you for journeying w/ the Saints with us!

Transcript

Mike: 0:09

Our journey with I'll call it our visual journey of the faith really began with stained glass and paintings and carvings. There were a lot of different factors, but the first icon that came into our life is this we knew what icons were, of course, but we never had any interest in owning any of them. I was up in Seattle visiting with my sister, and we went to an antique shop around the corner from her house, primarily to look for a piece of furniture. We looked around and there were icons scattered on the walls of the warehouse Not in a display, but just hanging hundreds of icons and that caught my eye and I asked the guy if he was selling them. He said no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's not, those are not for sale, that's just my collection. So okay, one collector to another, I'm not going to waste my time trying to talk him out of it. A sister wrote me an email and said hey, that guy is closing down his warehouse. I went in there and he said he might sell some of those icons. So this was about 2006.

Mike: 1:24

Cell phones weren't what they are today, and so she snapped a few tiny little grainy pictures and sent them to me, and I picked out four that I liked. This is one of them. What appealed to me was the blue color and the fact that the Saints seem so normal and typical of people in the faith that I know they don't look like giant warriors. They're not on a massive white charger with a spear, you know, taming the dragon. They're not John the Baptist out in the desert or St Anthony, for example, in the desert seeing visions of demons, and so forth. These are just folks who were honored by some other family and churches for their faith. Quiet Christians who deserve to be remembered for generations, and that's what appealed to me most about this icon, so I bought it.

Laurie: 2:20

Well, one of the things that makes us appreciate the icons and have them in this room and all around us is that we're reminded of in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses and these Russian saints, just regular folks, are at the throne of God, who are interceding for us at all times, and all the other saints, and so something so simple as an icon, with people that we don't really know, but yet when you say your prayers, they are there, listening and helping you to accomplish God's work.