This spiritual story is from Spiritual-Short-Stories.com

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 and 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! That’s what happens when people do not come to me.”
“Exactly!” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! Because people do not look to God for help is why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

I’ve always enjoyed this story - not so much because it challenges our views on whether or not God exists or we believe in God - but because it challenges our views on whether ANYTHING exists.

Often it’s so easy to see the obvious message in a short spiritual story… “Proof of God’s existence” is the one that stands out distinctly. But in my experience, such messages are surprisingly unhelpful because all we are doing is attempting to replace one belief system for another.

Instead, one might consider a deeper meaning through some of the following questions:

• “What is the importance of proof in my life?”
• “Where in my life do I need proof? Why?”
• “Where in my life do I have faith, and therefore don’t need proof? Why?”
• “What would my life be like if I never had to prove anything to anybody, including myself?”

By taking a deeper look at the lessons hidden within the story, it can begin to take on a much more personal meaning for us. And that has me curious…

What personal meaning does this story now have for you?

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