Be a gardener.
Dig a ditch,
toil and sweat
and turn the earth upside down
and seek the deepness
and water the plants in time.
Continue this labor
and make sweet floods to run
and noble and abundant fruits
to spring.
Take this food and drink
and carry it to God
as your true worship.
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.