Author Archives: reveds

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About reveds

Occupation: Pastor, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Lennox, SD Education: BS - Christian Education, Sterling College; MDiv. - Princeton Theological Seminary Family: Married, with Four children. Hobbies: Running (will someday run a marathon), Sci-Fi (especially Doctor Who and Sherlock), Theater, and anything else my kids will let me do.

Not by the hair of my… nevermind.

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Today some random thoughts on my new hair style.

Classification:  What exactly do you call this style.  I’m not bald, as evidenced by the fact that, in order to keep the appearance of being bald for the play I’m having to shave twice daily.  Why can’t my beard grow this fast?  I mean seriously, I’ve always wanted to grow and cool goatee, but it’s not in the cards.  It wasn’t until after I was out of college that I actually had to start shaving on a daily basis.
Neither am I a “Skin-Head.”  The origin of that name is from 1960’s Great Britain, and today is mostly used to refer to the subculture of White Power/Aryan ilk, of which I want no association.
So what do we call this?  Clean shaven.  Well-shorn.  Shined.  Bald-by-choice.  Shaved.  Smooth.  Hairless.  Mr. Clean.  Cue-balled.  Smooth-skulled.  My 10 year old daughter just calls me “The Freak.”  You take your pick, they all work.

Comments I’ve Recieved:  Usually when a lady (especially my wife) gets her hair done, a comment is expected.  “I really like your hair.”  Or, “Do you get your hair done.” Something along those lines.
When a guy gets his hair cut, however, he really isn’t looking for a comment.  But they still come.  How many times have I heard, “What, did you loose a bet?”  Or the brilliant one, “Did you get your hair cut?”
Just once I wish I had the chutzpa to come right out and say, “Hair cut?  What are you talking about?  What do you mean?  Agh!!! What happened to my hair!!!”  Or maybe the more cinical, “No, as a matter of fact, I’m sick and lost my hair.  Now don’t you feel foolish for asking?”  But, I just play along.  Still, it’s good advertizing for the play.
The best comment I have by far would have to be this:  “It’s like a woman with a low cut shirt whose cleavage is showing.  You know your not supposed to look, but your eyes just keep going there.”  I really didn’t have a response to that.

The Work Involved in such a “Maintenance Free” hair cut:  I’ve heard a couple of people say, just think of the money you’ll save in shampoo and gel.  Sure.  I can take that money and spend it on shaving cream, razors, and sunblock.  It takes a few minutes longer in the bathroom everymorning trying to get the head smooth, and if I shave too close, then it gets red and irritated for the rest of the day.

The look is starting to grow on me (sorry for the pun).  I don’t know how long I’ll keep this up.   Judging by the responses I’ve been getting, you’re not too sure either.  I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.

Peace,

SDG

Of God and Hair

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“Cut off your hair and cast it away…”
Jeremiah 7:29

I case you haven’t already seen or heard, I am now hairless.  I am not bald, my hair is actively growing, but I am clean shaven.  No, I did not lose a bet, and no, I am not sick.  I have been cast as Daddy Warbucks in our community theater production of Annie (showing June 18-20 and 25-27).  When I auditioned for the part I was asked repeatedly, “Are you willing to shave your head?”  “Of course,” I casually responded, “it’s just hair.  It will grow back.”

I never really considered just how attached to my hair I really was.  When I catch my reflection in passing, I have to stop and remember that that’s me looking back.  My three year old son (who got to help shave my head), is scared of me and having frequent nightmares about hairless monsters.  My one year old points and laughs.  My wife says she still loves me, but she won’t look at me when we talk.  I have discovered a newfound sense of anonymity.  No one recognized me in the coffee shop this morning.  I could get away with a lot right now.

I don’t think this look will last.  For starters, I don’t like having to shave the head every morning.  I hate shaving enough as it is; now I’ve tripled the amount of shaving I have to do.  I can’t seem to get the shave close and even; there are sections that are shiny, then others that feel like a brillo pad.  When I try to pull my shirt off over my head, it’s like Velcro.  Add to that the fact that all the ladies in the church keep talking about “all that beautiful hair,” I think I’ll have to let it grow back in.

I made sure that the hair went for a good cause though.  I wasn’t satisfied with just shaving for the sake of the play, if I was going to lose my hair, it was going for a good cause.  The hair wasn’t long enough for locks of love, but with the help of the church and friends in the community, I was able to raise nearly $500 for Relay for Life.

Until now, I never realized how many Scripture passages refer to hair.  There are almost 80 verses in the Bible, but I wanted to pull out just a few (pun completely intended).

  • Proverbs 16:31 “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”  We idolize youth today, and perhaps this is seen most vividly in the ways we try to hide our age.  From cosmetic surgery to reverse the signs of aging, to coloring away the gray, we fight to deny our age.  Gray hair is seen as a sign of weakness and infirmity by our culture, but what it really shows is dignity and splendor, representing experience, maturity, wisdom, and holiness.  In full disclosure, I have been warned that when my hair grows in, it may come in gray, but it was already heading that direction, so I say, “embrace it.”
  • Luke 12:7 “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”  This is absolutely amazing!  The great God of the universe, the Author of all creation, the One who provides the rain and the sun for the fields, and who cloths the birds with beauty and gives them a song, is so concerned with my life that He even knows the number of hairs on your head.  Why should I worry about anything?
  • Luke 21:18 “But not a hair of your head will perish.”  The Heidelberg Catechism teaches that Christ “protects me so well that without the will of the Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head…”  Such is the sovereign hand of God that, while I may suffer the slings and arrows of those who oppose the gospel, though I may even be delivered up by those closest to me, my life is secure in Him.  The psalmist says “I will fear no evil, for you are with me…” (Psalm 23:4).  Watching my hair blow away in the wind, I knew that even still, God holds me in His hands.

So let me apologize in advance for those of you who will be blinded by the glare in church on Sunday.  I’d love to say that I am, like Moses, reflecting the glory of the Lord, but that might be a stretch.  I’ll understand if you wear your sunglasses.

Now, anyone got any sunscreen?