Icons invite us to look upon a kingdom which is not of this world. To gaze upon persons who inhabit the promises about which Truth Himself spoke to us. I think icons are very important for our age, assaulted as we are by the visual media and made to feel that there is not enough within us, that we are not enough without purchasing their product immediately. If we eat junk food, our bodies will reflect that choice. If we feed our minds on materialism and the values of this world, our lives will reflect that choice, and so will our eternal destiny.
Icons are a way of opening a screen, window or vision of the Kingdom.
It takes a little study to learn the language, but it is a familiar language. It was born in the New Testament and is still governed by it. The story is old and yet eternally true. Jesus, His Mother and His friends are the subjects. Having been blessed, an icon holds the grace of the Holy Spirit for those who pray before it.