Deuteronomy 22:8 - I Love You... more than my beard
Good Morning! You're probably wondering what the buzzing is. Well, I"m getting ready to trim my beard. See, I have a problem. About a year ago, my wife thought I should grow my beard out, which I did. It was getting pretty long and I trimmed it back, but I had to trim back my moustache (not a mouse-tache... ha! ha!)... it was just difficult to keep my hands away from my face.
But now I have to wear a mask. And some masks work and cover up my beard, but there are other times I have to wear a cloth mask and it doesn't quite cover up my beard. The beard is getting in the way. And so I'm going to start trimming my beard.
It reminds me of a verse from Deuteronomy...
Deuteronomy 22:8 (NASB95) “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from it.
Now you're wondering, "What does that have to do with trimming your beard?"
Well, Jesus said that the Old Testament can be summarized in two commandments.
Mark 12:30–31 (NASB95) — 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Those rules in the Old Testament... a lot of them were about protecting other people. Back then, if you built a house, you used your [flat!] roof as another room. But to make sure that nobody fell off the roof and hurt themselves, you had to build a parapet or built a little fence around the edge of the roof so that no one would fall. You did all that simply because you loved other people.
So when you see people in masks, it seems impersonal. We're used to seeing them smile. We're used to shaking hands and now we don't shake hands unless we're wearing gloves. Now, people go around with face shields if they're healthcare workers. And what they're saying is not just, "Oh, I'm afraid of coronavirus." What they're saying, "I love you."
So that's why you'll see me with a shorter beard.
But now I have to wear a mask. And some masks work and cover up my beard, but there are other times I have to wear a cloth mask and it doesn't quite cover up my beard. The beard is getting in the way. And so I'm going to start trimming my beard.
It reminds me of a verse from Deuteronomy...
Deuteronomy 22:8 (NASB95) “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from it.
Now you're wondering, "What does that have to do with trimming your beard?"
Well, Jesus said that the Old Testament can be summarized in two commandments.
Mark 12:30–31 (NASB95) — 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Those rules in the Old Testament... a lot of them were about protecting other people. Back then, if you built a house, you used your [flat!] roof as another room. But to make sure that nobody fell off the roof and hurt themselves, you had to build a parapet or built a little fence around the edge of the roof so that no one would fall. You did all that simply because you loved other people.
So when you see people in masks, it seems impersonal. We're used to seeing them smile. We're used to shaking hands and now we don't shake hands unless we're wearing gloves. Now, people go around with face shields if they're healthcare workers. And what they're saying is not just, "Oh, I'm afraid of coronavirus." What they're saying, "I love you."
So that's why you'll see me with a shorter beard.
February passport photo, with plans for Italy in June.
What's behind that face mask in April!
%20Sparrow%20(Andrew%20Howe).jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment