The whole of today's gospel seems to be about John the Baptist. His death sentence was issued by Herod. His head was taken by a soldier of the guard. It was presented to Herodias on a platter and finally reached her mother who gloated over her revenge on the Baptizer. Not to take anything else from John, still, the lesson today might be said to be not so much about John as it is about us. It is about us and how we hear. The dramatic and tragic details are all about the beheading of John the Baptist, but, it seems, Mark supplies that account only to explain Herod's reaction to what he was hearing about Jesus. That is the clue that today's message for us might well be what our Lord himself once said: "Take heed how ye hear." Look how you listen. Use your head to listen or you may lose more …