I am bald now, or nearly so. My hair started falling out last weekend, so on Monday I shaved my head and beard, which gave me a (how to say this?) brand new look. It was fun to have my younger brother visiting from Vancouver, and in solidarity he shaved his head too! Then we headed for the airport to pick up another brother. It was great to spend a few days together. My kids were thrilled to have uncles around, especially because they were so willing to play card games and street hockey. My parents enjoyed having three sons around for a few days, too.

This coming Monday (Jan 8), I will return to the hospital for my second round of chemotherapy. I managed the last round pretty well, and we are praying that the same will be true again this time. In a few weeks, I will have another PET scan to measure the tumor. Our prayer is that it will shrink, which will help with the surgery.

Speaking of surgery, we got our third opinion on Monday, and so we have decided on a plan. We will be going to Toronto, where there is a surgeon and a larger team with rare experience treating primary pleuro-pulmonary synovial sarcoma — that’s synovial sarcoma starting in the lung and chest-lining.

In order to remove all the cancer, the surgeon will remove my entire left lung. The procedure is called an “extra-pleural pneumenectomy” — say that ten times fast! Lord willing, after I recover from surgery, I will receive a course of radiation therapy. All of this will take a total of about three months, and then it will be time to return home to California.

I am thankful to have a good plan, and a highly skilled medical team. In the last couple of weeks, we have been reading more medical literature, and while we don’t always understand the details, it is clear that my cancer is a difficult challenge. So while we thank God for his provision so far, we continue to pray for his healing and preserving mercy. If you would join us in our thanksgiving and in our continued prayers, we would be honored.

Meanwhile, this whole experience of losing my hair has got me thinking about “hair passages” in the Bible. It turns out that there are a lot!

The most famous hair in the Bible belonged to Samson. His long hair, untouched by a razor (Numbers 6:5), signified his devotion to God, and his special empowerment by the Holy Spirit. When Delilah gave him a haircut, he lost his strength and landed in prison. Now his baldness displayed his helplessness. That was not a bad lesson to learn from a bald head, and things worked out for Samson in the end. After his hair grew back, he pulled down a Philistine palace (Judges 16). He did more to help Israel in his death than in his life. In that way, he was just like Jesus.

David’s son Absalom cut his hair annually, and the trimmings weighed several pounds! (2 Samuel 14:26) His long hair was not about consecrating himself to God, but about vainly cultivating his image before an adoring public. Absalom’s vanity was one factor in his rebellion against David, which ironically ended with Absalom’s hair caught in a tree (2 Samuel 18:9). There are worse things than being bald.

Elijah is another hairy hero of the Bible. In the Hebrew text of 2 Kings 1:8, he has the strange title, “lord of hair.” Whether this refers to his body or his clothes, his hairy look was part of what made him a signpost calling Israel to repentance and warning of judgement on its wicked kings. John the Baptist had the same look, and the same sort of ministry (Matthew 3:4).

Ezekiel once used hair in a prophecy. God told him to shave his head with a sharp sword, weigh it out into parts, and use it as a picture of judgement on Jerusalem (Ezekiel 5:1-4). In a related word-picture, Isaiah warned that God would use the Assyrians like a razor to shave Jerusalem (Isaiah 7:20). Thankfully, he also prophesied of a savior who would bear God’s judgement in our place. That included losing his hair, as he gave his “cheeks to those who pull out the beard” (Isaiah 50:6).

Another famous biblical haircut is in Acts 18:18, where the Apostle Paul carried out a special vow. My own hair cut happened for very practical reasons, but I will be glad if my bald head serves as a reminder that it is right and good to devote one’s life to serving God in holiness.

Time would fail to tell all the biblical lessons we learn from hair. We are not to swear by our hairy heads (Matthew 5:36). A woman set an example of love for Jesus by wiping his feet with her hair (John 12:3). Nature teaches us about hair (1 Corinthians 11:14). Outward hair-dos are less important than spiritual adornment (1 Peter 3:3). In Revelation, the exalted Christ has hair “white, like white wool, like snow” (Revelation 1:14).

Jesus himself gave two precious words about hair. First, he assured us that “even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:26). My hairs are numbered more easily now, but in any case I’m thankful for God’s loving attention to every detail of my life.

Second, Jesus promised that “not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:18). He did not mean that life will always be safe, because he had just warned of all the dangers Christians will face. Even in these dangers, though, believers can be sure that every hair of their head is safe, because Jesus promises to raise our bodies, hair included.