The Prayer of Jonah

Say hello to the original reluctant caregiver

Sometimes it takes a long time for things to come together. Take this blog. It began three years ago when I decided I wanted a place where I could put my thoughts about the Jonah project. I've long held that Jonah's prayer is under-used and unappreciated. I've also been intrigued with the character of Jonah. He epitomizes the reluctant hero. For many years I've entertained the thought of doing an icon of Jonah but seemed to have trouble getting started. Perhaps it's because I needed to have a deeper understanding of his character before I started.

Lents have come and gone and the project has remained stagnant. So what's the problem? Perhaps I've been missing pieces of the puzzle. Tonight I realized that Jonah is probably the archtype for the reluctant caregiver and instead of creating a separate site to write about my experiences as a caregiver, the Jonah project would be the perfect repository. All I have to do is grab the domain name and direct folks to that particular category. Or I can keep them here and use a feed for the caregiver blog. The minute I had that realization my mood changed--usually a good indicator.

Returning to Jonah

This morning I returned to Jonah. It's been nearly two years since my last post but thoughts of Jonah have never been far removed from my daily life. The urge to paint the icon has been growing and has been matched by flashes of Jonah's image and random thoughts arising from his story. When I received Vivian's email asking when I wanted to begin the icon, it was the gentle prod I needed.

Instead of the image used in this blog's banner, we've switched to the more detailed traditional Byzantine icon.  After I found the copies of the icon, I stopped off at Kinkos and used their new blueprint copiers to make enlarged black and white copies of the image. Today's lesson consisted of transferring the pattern onto the watercolor paper and then incising the major portions. Next week I'll be adding the gold.

In the meantime I plan to do more blog entries.

A different icon

I found this slightly different image of Jonah and the whale on the Ecole Initiative link. The colors are different and this is a true icon where the one used in the banner is a fresco. I'm still partial to the blues rather than the browns. I'll have to ask Vivian about the choice of colors and their meaning.

I've been assisting Vivian Karayiannis, my icon teacher, all week in a workshop. I've also been attempting to do a study of the Jonah and the whale image on the banner, although my attempts have not brought much satisfaction. Despite my dismal efforts, I do believe I should go ahead and do the icon as part of an active meditation. Perhaps it will lead me deeper into the meaning of the prayer.

Eureka! I have the icon.

I found this iconic image of Jonah and the Whale on Skete.com:

Welcome to Skete.com, the home of Orthodox Byzantine Icons and St. Isaac of Syria Skete. Welcome to a place of great visual beauty, a place with a display of many of the greatest icon treasures of the world, a place where many of your spiritual needs have been anticipated, and moreover, a place built to enhance many parts of your spiritual life, feeding you physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Low cost prints of this image (and others) on icons are available from Skete.com. In fact, if you're interested or intrigued with this type of art, their site is a great place to visit. If you'd like to see more images of this nature, try Orthodoxphotos.com. The icons and frescoes page offers a nice introduction to icons and their use.

Back to Jonah and the Whale: So far, this is my favorite image of Jonah as it captures all I hope to explore in the story of Jonah and the whale.