Fastin with the whole body

Lastly, St. John tells us to fast with our hands and feet, with all parts of our bodies. Again, this concept is not a difficult one. Of we truly examine ourselves, I am certain there are times when we can see our hands and feet doing things that are contrary to the Word of God. But I would like to take this just a bit further.

Often times, people who are unfamiliar with Orthodox Iconography are put off by what they see as poor proportions and exaggerated proportions in an Icon. When we look at true Byzantine Iconography we see hands and feet that are much larger than they should be. Eyes and ears that seem to be too large, even elongated noses. We may ask ourselves why. 

The answer is easy. The iconographers of the Church were not bad artists. They wrote, in their icons, a truth about Saints and about the human person. They wrote icons that showed the Saint transfigured, as they are in the Kingdom of heaven, as we strive to be here.

The hands are large because they do the work of God, not mischievous things. The feet are large because they walk the path of salvation and not the road to damnation. The eyes are big because they behold the Kingdom of Heaven and not the mundane things of this earth. The ears are large because they hear the angels sing the thrice holy hymn that is sung on high, not the dark sounds of this world. The nose is large because it smells the sweet smelling incense that burns at the Altar in heaven.

This is what we need to strive for, this is fasting with all parts of our body. God give us the strength to go out into this world while at the same time, living and experiencing the world that is to come.