When editor Hershel Shanks invited me to be a regular columnist in Bible Review, I asked him what kinds of subjects he had in mind. “Well,” he said, “you might approach it this way: Here’s what occurred to me while I was shaving this morning.”

Though his response showed a remarkable confidence in early morning thought processes, it was not very helpful. As one who has had a beard for over 25 years, I do not shave. But it did suggest that the range of appropriate subject matter is broad, to say the least.