The Gray Hairs I Covet

Rev. Valerie Robideaux
“Hi! Welcome to Centenary! You can find a seat over there. Are your parents here?” The Centenary student-admissions ambassador was very welcoming. She had a lovely smile that could put any first-year student at ease on their summer visit to enroll in classes. I smiled back at her and thanked her for her warm display of hospitality and responded, “Oh, thanks but I work here.” That’s right. I was 28 and mistaken for 18. I have several other stories like this, such as being carded at a movie theatre because the PG-13 movie was going to let out past state curfew for minors 16 and under. I was 24 and married.
Many adults tell me I will one day be thankful for my youthful appearance; however, as a young professional on a college campus, I find this cultural crown of blessing a bit thorny. Because I often am mistaken for a minor, and quite possibly a pre-pubescent boy when I have really short hair, I admire my elders. I must confess that I look forward to salt and pepper hair, wrinkles on my face, and the wisdom gained through life experiences.
Lauren Winner states, “The Hebrew word sayvah, gray –as in gray hair –is etymologically connected to the word for repentance, teshuva: The process of aging, then, is the process of setting wrong things right” (99). I long for the time and space to set wrong things right. I often live in constant fear of failure, getting in trouble, and disappointing others. I don’t know about you, but I am very grateful for the gift of time, maturity, and reflection.
Is the season of Lent really a gift of time and reflection, a process of setting wrong things right? Perhaps this is a season for aging—for spiritually maturing. When I allow myself time to slow down and breathe and space for the Holy Spirit to move, God’s eternal perspective begins to invade my fears. I don’t know about you, but I am very grateful for that gift.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen. (Serenity Prayer, Reinhold Niebuhr)