A Tale To Think About

artistguy · Post by **artistguy** » Fri May 02, 2008 5:23 am

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't 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! What happens is that people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens is that people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

jess23 · Post by **jess23** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:41 am

LOVE THAT ONE!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 23, 2008 8:50 am

I appreciate your story. And I want to be clear here that I'm not trying to be argumentative. Nor do I want to dissuade anybody from opening the door to the barbershop. I just want to share my experience with attempted relationships with God, a God that I seriously do not know exists. Yet in a spirit of desperation I still cry out to God often.

I have very little or no conscious faith or belief yet I have earnestly tried to manufacture these on my own. I have asked God for forgiveness. I have asked God to help me believe, to help me have faith. I have read the Bible. Although I don't understand much of it I think it is packed full of incredible wisdom's. I have come to believe that faith and belief are bestowed upon us, not something that can be manufactured by ourselves. In other words faith and belief are given by the grace of God if there is a God at all. I am not saying that there is or is not a God I’m just saying I don’t know, that I have earnestly sought to know God. I have not been given the wisdom to recognize God if in fact God does exist.
I feel as though I have been to the barbershop, opened the door, stepped in and found I did not have enough money (faith and belief) for a haircut.

I wonder if others feel like this. It’s not that I don’t believe God exists altogether it is just that I simply do not know and faith and belief are beyond me. I thought I had a mustard seeds worth but I guess I was wrong.

Thank you for your story I am sure it has inspired many people.

Marybc · Post by **Marybc** » Sat May 24, 2008 12:05 pm

good stuff!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat May 24, 2008 5:27 pm

BO, I'm not a preacher or anything but I do believe God is real. There are many books on the subject of how you feel. 2 I am familiar with are "The case for faith" by Lee Strobel and "When God doesn't Make Sense" by Dr. James Dobson. I wish you success in finding what you are loooking for.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 27, 2008 1:09 pm

thank you Don