October 15, 2025 - Good morning! It’s Wednesday, October 15.
On October 15, 1860, an eleven-year-old girl named Grace Bedell wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln. Her message was simple and direct - he needed to grow a beard. It was just a few weeks before the presidential election and Grace thought a beard would really help his chances. If you’ve seen pre-presidential photographs of Lincoln, you know she was right. His face was gaunt, with sunken cheeks, and a weak chin.
Lincoln, to his credit, took her advice, and on November 6 was elected the 16th president of the United States. In February he was traveling by train to his inauguration, but he made a stop first. He stopped in Westfield, New York, the hometown of little Grace Bedell. On meeting her, the towering politician, with a full beard, got down on one knee and said, “Gracie, look at my whiskers. I’ve been growing them for you!” Then Lincoln kissed her on the cheek, got back on his train, and rode into history. She would never see him again.
Beards go in and out of fashion. Bearded presidents were common in Lincoln’s day, but there hasn’t been one for over 130 years now. Beards were common during Old Testament times. Abraham had one, so did Moses and David. The book of Leviticus forbid shaving. The Christian men of the New Testament were living under grace, not the law, but in the First Century it was still traditional, still expected, that Jewish men would wear beards. Romans and Greeks, on the other hand, were typically clean shaven.
And so, Jesus most probably had a beard. Our modern image of Christ usually includes one, and long hair, as well. But it was not typical for men of his time and place to wear their hair long. The Shroud of Turin, which some believe is a “print” of the Lord, depicts a man with long hair, a beard, and a mustache. The shroud has been widely discredited now, and the Bible seems to have been very careful not to give us any physical description of Christ. We’re left with these few words - “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him”.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
