I Moustache You A Question.

It is November.  The chill is in the air and  the garden plants are turning brown and dying.  The leaves are changing colours to glorious reds, yellows, browns, and oranges. The rakes are out, and my overly nitrogen rich compost pile is receiving a much needed infusion of carbon. But as the season changes and the greenery dies, something new is growing.

On the faces of countless men.

Movember is here.

With their “Mo’s”, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and male mental health initiatives.  Or not.  I wonder how many guys actually raise money…I digress. This is worthy cause, but I have not decided if I will be participating this time around.  I am leaning to not participating…I have to present some semblance of professionalism in my job and the first week of a ‘Mo’ is not very appealing.  And my wife does not like it.

Honestly it has nothing to do with the grey…

Well.

Ok maybe it does.

I moustache ask you a question. What is wrong with aging?  We are blasted on all sides by marketing saying to try the newest “look 10-15-20 years younger remedy” or use this cream to “hide your wrinkles”, or try this hair dye to hide your gray, or try this hair replacement therapy, weight loss pills, use this magic electric belt to zap your abs and melt away fat!

And on it goes.  Some ladies shell out 80-100-150 or more per month on getting their hair dyed and cut in the latest fashion! Some men spend thousands upon thousands to hide the bald spot.  I am thinning on top as well and it is quite upsetting 🙂  If I am honest I would probably hop on the first anti-thinning-hair-replacement remedy that actually worked…if I could afford it.

But I moustache ask you a question. What does the Bible say about all this? 

“Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” (Proverbs 16:31)

I am thinning up top, I am bit more jiggly in the middle, and I have grey facial hair – but apparently these signs of aging are a crown. God tells us, so it must be so! Where we are tempted to hide the effects of aging, we should embrace them. Even though we might deplore them, we should celebrate them. Yes wrinkles and grey hair, slowing metabolism and all the effects of growing old are the result of the fall, but the Bible speaks of aging with dignity and grace. No matter how hard it is for me to admit that I have gray hairs…or losing my hair altogether.

So, do not be ashamed to display the signs of age. Greying hair is a “crown of Glory”, a mark of a life long-lived. I guess my thinning spot is a crown.  Don’t be ashamed of a receding hairline or wrinkles; don’t trouble yourself over a perceived loss of beauty. Accept the processes of aging with grace, and give thanks to God for the life He has granted you. I am not going to judge anyone who dyes their hair, but I am going to think twice about it as I grow older, no matter how tempting it is! And really, most dyed hair  is pretty clearly fake, I mean how many 60 year olds have jet black hair? Is vanity something we should be spending money on?

It is not easy to lose the trappings of youth. It is so much harder at 36 to lose those extra 10 pounds than it was even 5 years ago…but remember, the signs of age are the marks of dignity. Why should we buy into the world’s view of beauty, which views the aging process as ugly and unappealing? Such thinking is a lie–and a much-believed one at that. So I desire to live a righteous life, in his power, and receive my crown of glory as my hair turns silver (or disappears) graciously.

I moustache ask you just one more question…should I grow one?

This article has been reworked from an article I wrote in 2012 called Movember and Grey Hair