... by their beards, shall ye know them

Beards are funny things... I had one once... actually no, that's not true... since the hair grows more on the right side of my face than on the left, I had half a beard; I looked like I'd been caught in a particularly abrasive crosswind...

I'm not allowed a beard any more... The Wife won't let me, although occasionally I don't shave for a day or two as an act of rebellion... grrrr...

For those with less oppressed chins than mine, beards can be iconic. WG Grace's (and Mike Gatting's) Obelix belly/whiskers combination are virtually synonymous with the pre-cardiovascular days of cricket... Jerry Garcia's face-fro is the symbol of an entire generational movement who 'stuck it to the (presumably clean-shaven) man' by throwing down their razors and daaancing until the sun shone from every rainbow pore... ahem.

They're churches Jim... but not as we know them...

Just a quick note because a longer post is in the offing... but I've been struck recently by three completely different versions of 'church'... define it as you will... the building, the 'gathering', the act of worship that is Kingdom on Earth...