The CUT

Well, I feel lighter. I lost a layer of good insulation on my head. I was walking under a light fixture in our apartment and I could feel the heat radiating from the light bulbs on my head. While putting a shirt I realize that hair as short as two days of beard growth acts like Velcro.

We searched the through boxes in storage to find our old hair clippers - no luck. So I broke down and bought some new rechargeable hair trimming kit with more attachments than an expensive vacuum cleaner. It was all they had on the shelf, but I was determined that today was the day I was going to cut my hair.

Pantene has a program called Beautiful Lengths where they make wigs for women that lose their hair during cancer treatment. They require only 8 inches instead of Locks of Love’s 10 inches. This has been my third go around of growing and donating my hair and I don’t think I could stand growing it out another inch or more than I did. My last hair cut was in July of 2009, and I was ready. We measured the longest hair was past 9” and the others stuff was just past 8” - so today was a “go” for cutting.

The rechargeable trimmer had been on charging for an hour or so (I didn’t see in directions the recommended 14 hours). So we began. Not even a quarter of the way through the battery dies. We try turning it off then on again numerous times trying to milk the most out of that battery as possible. Then we figure we should be able to plug it in and cut, but plugging it in only charges the battery. It doesn’t provide power to operate it! Does anyone else remember the days when you could plug stuff in and use it? Yes, I know it had a strange chord attached to the wall while you used it, but it would typically work. We get one small pony tail off at the back corner of my head, we switch to scissors, but the ones we have we couldn’t get very close to the scalp. So began the long process of waiting 5 minutes for enough charge to make a couple sweeps across my head before it would whirr - whirrrrr - whirrrrrrrr to a stop, then repeat.

We decided to stop and wait for a while for the trimmers to recharge after Jill had cleaned me up enough that I would be semi presentable in public. The kids and I made a Wal-Mart run with the bottom half of my head shaved and the top half in a pony tail. This was an interesting exercise in living up to my own words and thoughts about not worrying about what people think about me and what I look like.

We return home and head back to the yard for more attempts at cutting. Jill steps up and binds half of the hair on my head, and says, “Now if I cut this, there is no going back. You sure you want to do this now?” With my a solid affirmative, Jill begins to cut. The trimmers, now charged, work pretty good for a while. Then suddenly I find myself holding a pony tail in my hand, but I am hearing the trimmers trying to quit. We go back to the old cycle of wait five minutes, cut 2 passes, wait five minutes, cut, until finally.... I am free! There is now a bag full of hair ready to mail to Pantene -and I can feel the breeze on my scalp.

I began all this years ago standing in the shower feeling like it was time for my normal hair cut I would get every 2 - 3 weeks. I simply thought that it seems like such a waste. I’ve got good hair and some people lose theirs because of circumstances that can’t control. So then and there I began to grow out my hair. Now I have told lots of jokes about why I do this over the years, and besides who doesn’t like to save money by not paying for haircuts?

Originally it was a simple idea of just growing out my hair to help someone, because it was something I could do. It is just like giving blood, or donating stuff to help others. However, at some point during the first time I began growing out my hair, I got really annoyed. Especially when it had gotten longer than I had ever had hair before. Then a new thought began growing up in me. My favorite scripture verse is Romans 12:1-2, and this hair thing became a prayer. Nearly every time I would brush my hair, or have to use more shampoo than I was used to, or have to start using conditioner, or using some hair product, or put a hair band on, or just get annoyed or whine about my hair I would pray that my life would be a living sacrifice. I really love Jesus, and I simply want to live my life for him. I want there to be nothing left at the end that I held back. So yes, I wanted to give my hair away to hopefully help show someone that God has put people on the planet that are willing to give of themselves to help make their life a little better. But this hair thing became more. It was a constant internal reminder that I want to live my life for the one who has given himself for me.

So I know what you are going to ask. “Steve, are you going to grow it out again?” I will say the same answer I had said after I cut and donated my hair the first time. “No way! I will not do that again!” Whether I go back to regular hair cuts or let it grow long again - I hope this prayer will become a way of life. I hope you will join me in not just praying that prayer, but being a living sacrifice.

From The CUT 2011_02_26