Beard

[AureateDawn]

OrthodoxAndrew... why so many seemingly silly and pointless instructions on cutting hair? Odd...

Anywho, yes, I've heard shaving makes it come in thicker and faster. *shrug* I might try that. I used to be appalled at beards, but now I really want a big huge beard. Though I still think they are unattractive.

 

[Lotar]

I think my wife might kill me if I ever shaved mine off.

Even a couple of my non-Orthodox friends thought about growing one after saw me with mine. One will swear that my bread attracts women... of course my wife became interested in me around the time I grew it, so maybe its true.

I got the hairy Irish and Italian genes, so I was able to grow sideburns and a gotee back in High School, but the middle didn't grow in thick until I was in college.

 

[Lotar]

It's because the Orthodox Church puts more emphasis on the correct roles of men and women; so it is generally against fashion trends that blur the lines between the sexes. So, at a more traditional parish, most men will have beards, and women will wear skirts and head coverings.

 

[AureateDawn]

I've seen the head coverings in parish pictures. Hm. So... generally there aren't women with short hair or men with long hair (except Jesus in icons ).

Meh. I like society now as far as women being able to have short hair and whatnot.

 

[Photios]

Oh, long hair is pretty common, at least from what I've seen. I'd grow mine, but it's pretty thin, kind of brittle, and I'm balding. I might not have been able to grow a beard at nineteen, but I had a wonderful thick, full head of hair.

I have a friend who's, I think, twenty-five, who can't grow much of a beard, and what he does grow is thin, fluffy, and only in patches, all due to his mixed Native American ancestry. All that reminds me of when I once asked him if he preferred Native American or American Indian, or what. His reply, "I prefer: heathen savage!" (He's a catechumen, so he was only joking. Nonetheless, I thought it was hilarious.)

 

[AureateDawn]

I'm either 1/16 or 1/32 Native American myself. Cherokee. That may be partially why.

EDIT: One of my friends just told me that a beard was like having pubic hairs on your face. xD My, it was funny.

 

[Photios]

Joe, who will be Dismas one of these days (he's been a catechumen over four years) is roughly half Cherokee. Incidentally, he was made a catechumen by Fr Stephen, as were most people at my parish before me. I was one of the first two made a catechumen by Fr Jonas, and Cyprian who occasionally posts here is the other.

 

[AureateDawn]

Fr. Stephen Freeman?

What is Dismas, btw?

 

[Photios]

Joe was made a catechumen by Fr Stephen Freeman the same day my friend Moses was baptized. Moses is the one who intro'd me to the Church.

St Dismas is the Good Thief, at least from what I hear.

 

[AureateDawn]

Heh. Moses.

Neat. Fr. Stephen Freeman heads St. Anne, where I will most likely go when I am 18. I have talked to him several times.

 

[Photios]

Heh. Moses.

Neat. Fr. Stephen Freeman heads St. Anne, where I will most likely go when I am 18. I have talked to him several times.

Moses's patron is St Moses the Black. I know where Fr Stephen's parish is, as I've been there before.

 

[Lotar]

Meh. I like society now as far as women being able to have short hair and whatnot.

Kids these days!!! What is this world coming too?


It's not like this is dogma or anything, it's just better.

 

[Photios]

I'm a bit too thankful for the fact that there are women to care about much about things like hair length. Of course, I don't like them to wear revealing clothing, because it makes me feel like I'm being manipulated. Also, I don't like them to wear too much makeup or jewelry, because I think it obscures their natural beauty. Other than those things, I couldn't care less.

 

[Lotar]

I only care about how one woman looks, and I only care about how I look to one woman.

 

[Photios]

Yes, well, I could say the same, but she's totally unknown to me at this point, if that's even to happen. Doesn't seem likely, since I haven't had a date in over five years, but that's no biggie.

 

[Lotar]

It took us 11 months to go from "does she like me?" to married, so don't lose hope if that is your desire.

 

[Photios]

Oh, I never let go of any hope or joy. It just isn't a big deal to me anymore. I do hope to marry, but I have no problem if it's not meant for me.

 

[InnerPhyre]

Yes, well, I could say the same, but she's totally unknown to me at this point, if that's even to happen. Doesn't seem likely, since I haven't had a date in over five years, but that's no biggie.

Nonsense. It had been a couple of years for me without dating when I met my girl. I think the trick is to stop looking. Then God will plop someone down in your path and being around her will be like you've been smacked over the head with the divine shovel and the birds that tweet around your head are calling "this is the one, you idiot! Pay attention!"

Unless God wants you to become a monk, of course, which is even better

 

[MrJim]

"There are some things, too, which have such a place in the body, that they obviously serve no useful purpose, but are solely for beauty, as e.g. the teats on a man's breast, or the beard on his face; for that this is for ornament, and not for protection, is proved by the bare faces of women, who ought rather, as the weaker sex, to enjoy such a defence." St. Augustine of Hippo

...never thought of my "teats" as adornment...that's one weird quote

 

[MrJim]

Regarding beards-the amish and some of the conservative plain mennonites require beards minus the moustache. I've seen some dudes where it starts almost under the eyes and the beards are massive...

I fall into the thinner beards-had a friend come up to me once and asked if I was growing a chin-strap . But I always have whiskers on my chin and a moustache.

I just finished rereading "Becoming Orthodox" and there were lots of guys in there needing some chin hair-even Metropolitan Philip, though they were some old pics. If the Metropolitan scrapes his face then I guess I can on occasion too