HELLO!

The downward slide in summer attendance that began in mid-June and that came to strange and delightful halt last Sunday with our huge crowd, has returned. We are officially in “summer mode”. Still, new faces keep coming, I met several people who joined us for the first or second time (a few people came resulting from their attendance at the funeral on Thursday). Bethe woke up feeling unwell, she was not with us today. We pray she is feeling better soon. In fact, several people wrote me emails to say they were not feeling well enough to join us. I promised to wave to them, and I did. In fact, we all waved to our friends. If you missed the service, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukg_Lla5JOw

Even in your old age, when you turn gray, I will carry you. Isaiah 46:4

Many commented, there is no longer a crooked stole to distract them, on my new whickers. Both of my brothers, younger, have thick beards. I don’t see them as often as I ought to (my fault), but when I do I think “perhaps it is time for me to once again grow a beard”. The trouble is it takes me much longer to grow facial hair than my siblings. But here’s the thing, I don’t care. I walk two miles each day, at rather break-neck speed. I wear clothing that matches. But as for aging, I really don’t care. I am 62, I look older, and I don’t worry about it. The other day a woman whom I volunteered with in the late 80’s met me at a coffee shop. “I hardly recognize you”, she said. That’s code for “you got old”. When I was in my 30’s and 40’s, I was told I looked like someone on TV (The Halifax Herald, believe it or not, had a column on doppelgangers, my photo and John Ritter’s appeared side by side). The woman at the coffee shop told me I now look like an old Ron MacLean. Who your doppelganger?

Rick shaves my head now on a regular basis. It takes him 10 minutes. When he asks me, “How do you like it?” I answer, without looking “It’s great”. The truth is I have never had any attachment to my looks, neither insecure nor proud, I have never assumed anyone treated me in any specific way because of my appearance. I am a rather plain looking gent, if I was not so loud, no one would ever spot me. I feel for people who are insecure by how they look and for those who feel their good looks are changing with age. I once worked with two colleagues, both very conventionally attractive. When a new person would fill out the Newcomer Form and they would come to the church for a tour, I could tell my presence was a disappointment to them, “Is s/he coming along as well?”. I used to tell Kim, “It’s a good thing I have thick skin”. Kim loves me, but even she agreed it was fascinating to see me in team with such “lookers”. I am under no illusions, I know our appearance means a lot in our culture. When I watch YouTube, there are constant ads for beauty products, the clear assumption being we must hide the aging process. No one, including me, is immune from what we see when we look at another. But I also know we all age, and we can either lament this or accept it. I choose acceptance. And yes, I know it’s easier for men. Life is unfair.

I end this blog with a reminder of the most disastrous political ad ever made, in 1993, one that seemed to highlight the looks of Jean Chrétien. The former Prime Minister responded with, "They tried to make fun of the way I look, God gave me a physical defect, and I have accepted that since I was a kid." Jean Chrétien was affected by "partial paralysis" of his face, which he believed was a birth defect and which his mother thought was the result of a childhood disease or virus. If people think I have aged, I think I will borrow the former PM’s line, “God made me this way”.

Peace, Kevin