The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old (Proverbs 20:29).

I still remember my first gray hair.  Marci found it and plucked it and put it in a scrapbook.  At the time, I was not thrilled about this development.  It was before we were even married, so I was still a bit insecure about my virility to begin with -- and certainly not ready to think about the beginnings of any sort of age-induced decline.  The little gray hair was wiry and snaggly, like the filament of a light bulb alerting me to the passage of time.  I was not looking forward to getting old and gray.  I wanted to dig in my heels and resist the aging process with all my might... But you'll have to forgive me for my impudence and insecurity -- for in truth, I was really only a young man at the time.

The glory of young men is their strength, and I believe that this includes strength-of-opinion as well as physical strength.  The younger we are, the more we tend towards extremes and idealism.  Nuance is thrown aside in favor of black-and-white absolutism on every manner of ideology.  This can be beautiful and powerful -- resulting in epic romance, uninhibited passion, radical devotion, and unprecedented entrepreneurial endeavor.  Young men can be fierce, fearless, and fatalistic, turning the dynamo of politics, business, the military, and the arts.  The glories of battle belong to young men because their strength of opinion, strength of passion, strength of conviction, strength of devotion, and of course their physical strength, too.

But youth is not everything.

In fact, the unfettered idealism of youth can often create problems.  Young men can rush to exhibit their strength without using their heads.  Young men let their testosterone get the best of them and act too quickly, too impulsively, too rashly.  Young men do stupid things.  Black-and-white absolutism doesn't leave any area for dialogue and compromise.  And so, it's important that soldiers have officers, athletes have coaches -- and other strong young men have their older, grayer counterparts to keep them in check.  This is no mere coincidence.  It's a societal survival skill.  Gray-haired men understand the concept of "gray area" in the midst of complex ideological spectra.  They can respond in more subtle, nuanced ways.  They can use their wit and wisdom to guide the strength of the young men to achieve a higher good.  More years of life experience mean more maturity, more wisdom, and more suitability for the complexities of leadership.  It's not by accident that most constitutional governments specify a particular age requirement for someone holding the nation's highest elected office (for instance, the Constitution of the United States of America specifically states that the President must be at least 35 years old).  There really is a sense of power and splendor that comes along with age and wisdom.

Now, I don't know exactly what this means for those of us who might most-realistically fall into the category of being "middle-aged."  Too old for high-level physical competition; too young to qualify as truly gray-haired and wise.  Still, I'm going to try to enjoy and employ the strength that I've still got while welcoming the gray hairs and wisdom as they come.