R is for RAZOR

It was a very twisty road and though not the main thoroughfare, was a busy route at around 8:30 on any weekday morning, mainly because it was considered to be a short cut across country. I travelled the road for years in both directions but the morning journey was always the most frantic for that was the time when I chose to shave on many days. I can imagine your consternation at the thought of shaving foam, a bowl of water and a razor sitting on the passenger seat and yours truly attempting to remove facial hair with the odd glance in the rear view mirror and an occasional look at the road ahead, so it's only fair to come clean and admit that it just wasn't like that. To get a more accurate mental picture, takeaway the bowl and the foam and replace the blade razor with a battery powered one and you are pretty well spot-on with the situation. Now don't misunderstand me. I often shaved at home but the little pocket razor which I had since my student days always nestled in the driver's door compartment and on those occasions when I was rushed in the morning, it regularly saw the light of day and the side of my chin. However, increasingly I discovered that I could save much more time if I decided to forego the home shave and just remove the bristles on a quiet stretch of road along the way. And this quiet stretch was ideal, except it wasn't so quiet and had more twists than a Sherlock Holmes story. Anyway, if you had met me in the morning, you probably wouldn't have noticed anything strange, for I became adept at pausing every time I met a car, though I have to confess, over the years there were one or two very close shaves! The secret of course was to use the mirror as little as possible and simply go by the feel on the face and though this appeared to work reasonably well, it was still quite possible to leave some areas untouched. When the shave was finished, the second job was always to dispose of the shavings that had collected. This was a simple job in comparison as it only involved winding down the window and holding the battery razor into the wind. Then by a small switch it was possible to open the hinged top and all the remains were scattered across the countryside, or on occasions when the wind was strong, back into the car!

I've never been wet shaver but I have managed to cut myself once or twice with an electric razor so just imagine the damage I could do with a blade. Dad always had his shaving brush in the bathroom and I only really ever remember him using one razor that screwed apart to allow a blade to be set in between the two pieces. The blades came in a little yellow box of five, each individually wrapped in paper and all extremely sharp. It certainly wasn't a safety razor but he was an expert and rarely did I ever see a mark of blood on his face. He certainly took much more time over his shaving than I ever did and it showed in the closeness and completeness of a job well done. In the last couple of years of his life, he no longer had the strength not the steadiness to use his blade razor and resorted to a a rechargeable one that did an adequate job but never really to his satisfaction. In his last few months, when I had often had to shave him, I understood why because, though it appeared to be successful, closer inspection by touch and sight revealed that there was only a certain level of closeness it could reach and often some hairs were just too tough to remove by its rotating blades. I now see that both my sons have opted to follow the path of their grandfather rather than their dad and, in retrospect, it is probably a wise decision. Still, it doesn't matter what type of razor we choose for the next day we have the same problem and the same task to complete before presenting ourselves to the world.

Being a Christian is similarly a constant daily battle for Satan never chooses to go away and always looks for an opportune moment to attack. So it doesn't matter whether you have been walking the road for years or just a new believer starting out on the journey, we need to dedicate each day of our lives into the care of our Father in heaven, to protect us from all evil that might try to spring up unnoticed. That's why I find the Lord's Prayer, which sometimes we utter more out of repetition than thoughtfulness, so important because in it Jesus tells us to ask each day for our daily bread, for forgiveness of sins and for protection against temptation. Jesus tells us, ' If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.' God also reminds me, through the Psalmist 'Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.' As I renew my dependence on God today, I know that the closer I stay to Him, the less chance that there will be for anything undesirable to grow. But tomorrow is another day. Keep the blade sharp.