SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2008

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

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Dear Friends in Our Lord Jesus:

A friend sent me this delightful story about a man and his barber. It points out the dangers of relying exclusively on our powers of observation when we wrestle with big theological issues.

According to the story, a young man walks into his barbershop to get a haircut and a beard trim. As always, the conversation wanders into a fairly deep area. Eventually, the subject of God comes up, to which the barber promptly says, “Nope. I don’t believe God exists.” The young man questions the certainty of the opinion. And the barber launches into a lengthy discourse. “Well, all you have to do to prove that God doesn’t exist,” he says, “is walk out in the street and take a good look around. Tell me, if God exists, why are there so many sick people in the world? And why are there abandoned children? If God really existed, there would be no suffering and no pain. I can’t even imagine a loving God who would allow all of this. Nope. God does NOT exist.”

The young man just sat there, trying to avoid an argument. It is never a good idea, he thought, to argue with someone standing over you, holding an object with sharp blades. Instead, the barber finished his work, the young man paid his money, and the transaction was concluded. But the discussion was not quite finished. As the young man walked into the street, he immediately saw a man standing on the corner with very long hair and an untrimmed beard. He was dirty and unkempt.

Turning quickly, the young man walked back in to the barber shop. “You know,” he said to the barber. “I have just discovered that BARBERS do not exist!”

The barber laughed loudly. “How can you say that?” he asked. “I am right here, and I just cut your hair.”

“No,” the customer said. “Barbers do not exist, because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards -- like that man outside.” “Ah! But barbers DO exist!” the barber replied. “The problem is that some people just don’t come to me!”

“Exactly,” the young man replied. “ And that’s the point. God DOES exist, but some people never go to Him. And THAT’S why there is suffering and pain in the world.”

-- The Very Rev. Dr. Steve Sellers +