Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 328 · November 24
Aaron's Beard
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
Which man does the psalm reach for when it wants a picture of brothers living together in peace? Three verses long, and the middle one is a face. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.
That is an ordination being remembered, oil poured out at the making of a priest, enough of it to run off a man's chin onto his collar. And Aaron has a history. He is the one who took the gold and made a calf of it and told his brother it came out of the fire on its own. He is the one who lost two sons in a day over strange fire, and of whom it is written, and Aaron held his peace. He is also the one whose sons had the great blessing put in their mouths, and the words the LORD bless thee, and keep thee reached Israel through that family.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. The psalm's first word is an instruction to look, and looking is all it does: oil on a head, oil in a beard, oil on the hem, then dew coming down two mountains at once. It never explains the picture. It never asks anybody to say anything about it.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 328 is Following to Know (Hosea 6:3).