CUTTING HAIR

 

Cutting Hair

⁷ Remember the days of old;
    consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
    your elders, and they will tell you. (Deuteronomy 32:7 ESV®)

   Over the last couple of months, I have attended several funereal services. For those of us over 70 this seems to be one of our new social activities. At some of the funereal services children of the deceased have spoken about their mother or father.  The common thread seemed to be that the relationship had faded over the years.

   This brought into clear vision, in my mind, how it was when I found out my father was nearing the end of his earthly journey because of lung cancer. At the time I was living 500 miles away from my parents and had allowed some distance to occur in our relationship also. When pending death enters a relationship new things became important. We had never had direct conservations about faith in Jesus. It was always peripheral, just touching the edges, never getting to the core.

   At Ohio University, I shared a room with a barber’s son. Cutting hair was a skill I acquired that was not on my official class schedule. After having one lung removed my father was unable to sit in a barber’s chair long enough to have his hair cut. Cutting my father’s hair became my duty. At first it was a chore because it forced a 10-hour trip from Baltimore to Cincinnati. In the beginning, my father could only sit up straight for about five minutes at a time causing these sessions to take over an hour. (My not being a real barber also added to the time.) The greatest thing about doing this duty, which became a blessing, was I had to get close to cut his hair.

   I believe, part of God’s plan was relocating my family from Baltimore back to Ohio, cutting the drive time to about a third. This allowed for non-hair cutting visits.  Some visits included time in a boat on a nearby lake, drowning worms. Other times, we were in his workshop making sawdust. Things I had not done with my father since my high school days. When this all started, I was not sure what God was doing but during the two-year period of cutting my father’s hair, I switched to a great job which required the relocation and more time was found for family.

   My father’s faith was solid. I had seen him living it but I felt so much better when I heard the reassuring words come out of his mouth, Jesus died and rose to take away our sins so heaven can be our forever home. A great peace was gained by my hearing he had a firm grip on Jesus, and heaven was awaiting his arrival. 

   Find some excuse to get close. Don’t wait until there is a diagnosis of a terminal illness to strengthen your relationships with family and friends. We are all stricken with the fatal disease of sin (Romans 3:23). Time and death are common to us all, so spend your time wisely. 

   Keep a tight grip on Jesus and people, not things.

      

 

                             Wess Mechler –P.H.D.   Jesus is Alive!!!

 

ESV® - The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.