Each day the Internet Movie Database posts the names and photos of four celebrities who were “born today”. I don’t know when I started doing this, but I always click through that list hoping that today all the stars listed will be older than me. There aren’t many such days anymore. Yesterday it almost happened. Only Teri Hatcher from Desperate Housewives was younger than me. (We were born in the same year. Too bad she isn’t holding up as well as I am).

Today, though, everyone IS older than me, thanks to Judi Dench (72), Kirk Douglas (90), John Malkovich (53) and Felicity Huffman (also a Desperate Housewife, 44).

Why do I care? I can’t say for sure. I guess I find comfort in knowing that there are people well ahead of me in the age race who are valued by society. The IMDb list gives balance to an interview I heard last night with two guys in their early-20s who just sold their internet start-up company, presumably for millions.

This particular neurosis hit me early. I remember, when I was 21, writing a letter to a girl I liked about how strange it felt that Dwight Gooden (then 20) was making a big splash pitching for the Mets. I think I was basically trying to sound deep to impress the girl, but Gooden’s early success did make me think about how quickly life passes. Doc Gooden’s recent life also makes me think - about how the full story of a life takes years to write. Gooden spent most of this year in prison.

In Searching For God Knows What, Donald Miller writes at length about this need we have to validate ourselves in contrast to others. He says that an alien visiting our world would see clearly that it drives nearly everything we do. Age makes a handy comparison. So does weight, looks, athletic ability, success and the accumulation of possessions. Miller traces this back to The Fall when Adam and Eve sinned and cut us off from the One who tells us that we are valuable.

Christ means to bridge this gap back to God, to reconnect us with the Source of our identity. The more I abide in Him, the less I need to compare.

And the less need I have to point out that Brad Pitt is older than me.