Tradition holds this icon was made without hands — the first sacred image
Jamie: So... worship. Is it supposed to be quiet, smoky, or scented like pine?
Moderator: Depends. Are we worshiping, performing, or encountering?
Moderator: Evangelicals tend to focus on music—bands, projectors, and lyrics that stir the heart. Catholics use stained glass, statues, and candles. Orthodox? We paint heaven.
Jamie: Yeah, but kissing a picture? Isn’t that... weird?
Moderator: If a thief broke into your house and told you to stomp on a photo of your parents, would you?
Jamie: No way. That’d be messed up.
Moderator: Why? It’s just ink and paper.
Jamie: Because it represents someone I love.
Moderator: Exactly. That’s not idolatry. That’s reverence.
Jamie: Okay, but still—images of Jesus? Isn’t that breaking a commandment?
Moderator: Let me ask you this: If Jesus had come in the 2020s, what would’ve happened?
Jamie: People would record every miracle on their phones. Even the ones who were against it.
Moderator: Right. Images don’t destroy holiness. They reveal it.
Jamie: So icons are like... sacred screenshots?
Moderator: Windows into a presence, not just memories of the past.
Moderator: And did you know? Tradition holds the first icon was basically a photograph.
Jamie: What?
Moderator: Jesus wiped his face with a cloth, and His image remained. We call it the Image Not Made by Hands.
Jamie: So that’s like... a divine selfie?
Moderator: And the Church kept it. Not to worship the cloth, but to proclaim the Incarnation. God became visible.
Jamie: So... fog machines, incense, LED lights, candles—what’s the difference?
Moderator: The question isn’t what you use. It’s what you mean.
Jamie: You’re saying intention matters more than technique.
Moderator: Exactly. Worship isn’t a performance. It’s presence. Whether you lift your hands or light a candle—what matters is who you’re facing.
*Jamie quietly sets the fog machine down and gazes at the icon.*
Next time on The TheoLounge: “What Happens After Death?”