Not a Hair of my Head

I started losing my hair at about age 21. I first noticed it as a few hairs in the sink in England. No big deal. I noticed a few more in Florida, more in Wichita Falls and San Antonio, Texas. Even more in California and Okinawa, and more in Mississippi. It got even more serious in Virginia. My hairline started to recede, and I developed a noticeable bald spot. Still, when I looked in the mirror, I could see a lot of hair (at least in the front), and I never looked at the back. I have lost a hair or two in nearly every state of the union (including Hawaii and Alaska). I have to wear a hat nearly all the time to avoid too much sun on my mostly bald pate. I started telling my barber that a really good barber could get rid of the bald spot, but he just laughed, thinking it was a joke. I was serious. I considered, but rejected, a comb over.

By 2009, I was nearly bald, and my hair – at least on top – was definitely wispy. In March of that year, I went to our barber, Jessica (Kathy and I used the same one), and while Kathy waited, I got my hair cut. I said to Jessica: “give me a buzz.”

Jessica said: “Are you sure? Kathy, is it all right if Russ has a buzz?”

Kathy nervously replied: “Sure, if that’s what he really wants.”

So I have been buzzed for more than four years. I have learned not to be sensitive about it because there is nothing I can do about it anyway. I have learned to say things like: “Bald is beautiful.” “It’s a lot easier to take care of.” “I use less shampoo.” “Only a few people have heads perfect enough to wear their hair this way.” “It’s a great weather gauge (except for wind, because my hair doesn’t move in the wind).” I can even enjoy a good bald joke.

I can see some advantages to loss of hair – The scriptures say that Nephi “did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and … smote off his head with his own sword.” (1 Nephi 4:18) Maybe Laban might have survived if he had been bald.

But Samson became weak when the Philistines shaved his head (Judges 16:21). Perhaps that’s my problem, and not the advancing years I am blessed with that seem to take the strength of youth from me.

My only hope now is that my hair will be restored as I become young again in the hereafter. I have hope in the resurrection too, because we have been promised that not a hair of our heads will be lost. Concerning the resurrection, Alma tells us in Alma 40:23:

The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

So now the mystery begins. I have lost hair all over the world. But in the resurrection, It will all be restored. How will my lost hair be gathered? It has disintegrated by now – gone back to the primordial elements it was created from.

It seems to me to be a rather mean thing to create me in the first place with a nice thick head of hair and then, as I progress and mature in mortality, to take away most of my hair, only to give it back in the resurrection.

Hair is an important part of every person’s persona – that intangible, unmeasurable part of us that makes us unique. Samson’s hair made him strong. President McKay’s white flowing locks helped establish his persona as a man full of wisdom and insight through the Spirit.  D&C 110 contains “Visions given to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, April 3, 1836.” In verses 2-3 the resurrected Lord is described as follows:

We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow…

The Savior’s hair was mentioned with emphasis; perhaps even as his crowning glory (my interpretation).

I really am not as concerned about my hair as I sound. But I would be interested to know why one of my brothers is a bald as I am, and why my other brother still has every hair on his head he was born with.

All this prattle about my hair leads me to a discussion of the resurrection. When we graduate from this life, prophets have told us that as disembodied spirits, we will lose all the ailments and problems that beset us in mortality. We will be blessed with the vigor of youth and the blessings of eternity. We know that when we are finally reunited with our bodies, that they will be glorified, but still of flesh and bone (and hair).

I have attended several funerals recently: one for a friend who died too soon, another for my 98-year-old uncle, a third for my 84-year-old aunt and a fourth for an 84-year-old woman in our ward. On all of these occasions, there has certainly been sadness, but there was an underlying joy for each of these good people that transcends mortality. We have faith that we will blessed to be united with those who pass on to the third estate. We understand that they will be relieved of earthly cares and will enter into the rest of the Lord – which is really the opportunity to serve others in the spirit world and perhaps at times, those who remain in mortality.

Graduation from mortality will come to each of us. I hesitate to call it “death.”  I know that my mortal body will cease to function because of, as Shakespeare had Hamlet speak in his famous soliloquy: “The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.” But we speak of death as a step in our progression, not an end. We speak of people who have passed on as if they still exist (which, of course, they do). We endure the separation of our spirit from our mortal body, with the understanding and the knowledge that they will be gloriously reunited. Such glory and happiness as we cannot even comprehend awaits us after the resurrection. As Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 2:12:

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

No one can deny that mortality is difficult. We are confronted with many trials and much suffering, and by ourselves would fail miserably to accept the will of the Lord. Yet, through the atonement, and ultimately, His grace, the Savior will extract the sting from sorrow and make the troubles of this life create in us a stronger and eternal being. B. H. Roberts, in his book, A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said:

From the beginning of time, as we count it, to the present, God our Father has, at divers times, both by his own voice and the voice of his inspired prophets, declared that he would send to earth his Only Begotten Son, that through him, by means of the resurrection, of which our Lord was the first fruits, mankind might be redeemed from the penalty of death, to which all flesh is heir; and by obedience to the law of righteous living, which he taught and exemplified in his life, be cleansed from personal sin and made heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Death, continued existence in the spirit world, and resurrection remain mysteries to me. I have faith that these things are true and will at some future time happen to me, but the perfect knowledge that these things constitute a big part of our eternal progress is yet ahead for me. I know that prophets and the Savior himself have spoken of these things, and I believe on their words.

In fact, the state of my hair is the least of my concerns. I believe that when I am resurrected, all of my body parts will be restored to perfect functionality, including my hair follicles. So when I contemplate the passing of loved ones and friends to the spirit world, I feel joy for them and a little sadness for myself at the temporary loss of their company in this life. Graduation does indeed come to all of us. Resurrection comes to all of us too. These are two of the great blessings of the “Great Plan of the Eternal God.” (Alma 34:9) So enjoy.