E X C E R P T

LICE are crawling through my beard," Jesus grumbled. "Don't worry," Laila assured him. "Let me put the sheep out to graze and then I'll come back and pick the lice." A cock rushed into the kitchen chasing a hen. Jesus shooed them away with his feet. "Mother, I'm going to Bethany to see Martha and Lazarus. It's been so long since I saw them," Jesus announced. He thought to himself that his friends would have some money on them. He could borrow some. There would be a way to pay back. He could always return to carpentry. He hadn't forgotten what his father had taught him. The life of a wanderer is such great fun. The world is kind to loafers. "Don't shave your beard," his sister Laila said. Jesus smiled: "Let me see how I look without a beard." Laila answered: "Without the beard, you will look like a pretty girl." Jesus laughed: "Like you." His mother broke into the conversation. "All my children are good looking," she said with pride. Jesus' mother tried to imagine how her son would look without a beard. A face from her past flashed in her mind. Nervously, she wiped the sweat from her face.