This morning PAYG focussed on the story of the man with the withered hand in Mark 3, and drew attention to the hardness of heart of the people who hoped to trap Jesus. I found myself pondering that it was far easier to restore a shrivelled hand than to melt hard hearts... and then went off on a little sidetrack to contemplate withered hands and withered hearts. I checked the Greek - alas the same word is not used, so the writer missed a trick there perhaps. Shrivelled, withered, dried up, gnarled, hardened ... I sense something of a parallel there between the man's hand and the people's hearts (I also found myself contemplating the poor fig tree that Mark tells us Jesus killed with a withering look). Which is easier - to cure, or at least alleivate, physical suffering or to engender compassion in the hearts of self-righteous people? Seemingly the former. Which gives me, anyway, pause for thought.