Contemplation is the central human act that puts us perceptively and lovingly in touch with the innermost reality of everything because it is a simple intuition of the truth.
The icon bears witness to the nearness yet otherness of the Eternal. It introduces us to a world of mystery, yet at the same time, we discover that this mystery is not far away, but is hidden within each one of us, closer to us than our own heart.
Praying is not necessarily best described always as
looking towards God; sometimes and especially in
intercession, it is equally a learning to look at the
world as if with God's eyes.