DOES GOD REALLY CARE ABOUT A HAIRCUT?

"But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it." (2 Kings 6:5-7)

In the above Bible passage, there was a group of young men who were sort of "prophets in training" under Elisha the Prophet. As funny as this may sound, they were like a lot of college students who are moving in this weekend- they needed a bigger dorm! Unlike most of today's students, they were perfectly willing to build a new dorm themselves, and they were engaged in that task when a problem happened. The young men were cutting down trees. Suddenly, an axe head came loose and flew right into the Jordan River. The young man was beside himself because the axe was borrowed and now what was he going to do? Elisha the Prophet did not consider this any big deal. Elisha cast a stick into the Jordan River and suddenly the axe head "swam" to the top! The kid reached out and got it, and his problem was solved. Does God really care about a lost axe head? God's got a whole universe to run, filled with not only billions of stars, but filled with billions of galaxies. God also has billions of people to focus on; and there are countless very serious problems in this world. Does it seem likely that God would care about a lost axe head or some other trivial matter? It may seem unlikely, but the fact is that God cares about the most minute little problems and situations that we have. I was reminded of this on Saturday!

My friend Dave thinks I share much too much about myself and my feelings on my blog. He thinks readers could think I'm quite neurotic, quite eccentric, and frankly a little nutty! Well, they could- but I think it's much better for me to just be myself, even though I know that making myself very vulnerable does hurt me in some circles. I certainly do have my quirks! I once asked a woman who has an autistic son if it's possible to be "just a little bit autistic". She said that she thought it was possible. I asked that because I honestly love routine and order in my life, kind of like "Raymond" in "Rain Man". Now, before anyone tries to have me institutionalized, that character is about forty times more intense about patterns and routines than I am, and if I drop a box of toothpicks on the ground I can't tell you how many there are! I do love my routines, however! One of those routines is that I get my hair cut every four weeks...not three, not five, but every four weeks. My reasoning is that if I get my hair cut after three weeks, it has not grown enough. In that case, it ends up being cut too short and looks really bad. If I get my hair cut after five or six weeks, it's grown a little too much. The barber tends to then not take enough off, and at home I end up with a pair of scissors and a comb trying to "fix" it and then looking like my head was run over by a lawn mower! Four weeks is just right. I actually plot out every fourth Saturday on the calendar and mark it "HAIRCUT". I follow that schedule "religiously". Now, it has been a problem since I usually work a pretty full day on Saturdays at the answering service. For that reason, I still mark off Saturdays, but a lot of times, I actually get the haircut on a Friday, preferably a Friday afternoon. Sometimes I get really "liberal" about it. For example, if it's winter and a blizzard is forecast for the Friday/Saturday of what's supposed to be my haircut day, I will get it done on Thursday, but no earlier than Thursday.

I usually get my hair cut at Collotta's Hairstyling at Hartford and Concord Streets in Framingham. Sometimes, but rarely, I'll get the haircut at Frank & Vinny's in Canton, near where I currently live, and very rarely at a barber shop off Route 9 in Natick. Saturday, August 24 was the calendar date for the haircut. Collotta's closes at 2 p.m. which means I'd have to get into the shop by 1:30 at the latest. I was scheduled to work from 7:30 to 3:00 on Saturday, so that was a problem. I did have some free time on Friday morning and this would have been the perfect time to get a haircut, but that was also a problem. Money has been horrendously tight and challenging since my eye surgery in early July. By Thursday, I was hunting around for quarters and barely putting gasoline in the car. There was just no way I would have money for a haircut before cashing my check on Saturday. Yes, I could wait until Tuesday to get my hair cut, but that's the "autistic" part of me. I just did not want to do that! I may not be "Rain Man" but that prospect would almost have had me yelling, "Vern, V-E-R-N!!" I did come up with a plan, however. Frank & Vinny's is open a lot longer on Saturdays than is Collotta's. I was not sure if they closed at 4 or 5, but I was pretty sure it was 5. If I hurried, I could get there by around 4:10 and get my hair cut before they closed.

I was just picturing the inside of Frank & Vinnie's and the smiling barbers at their chairs as I drove from Framingham to Canton on Saturday afternoon. I could imagine myself having a conversation with Frank, Jr. (His late father - the original Frank - was the best barber Canton had ever seen.) As I rounded the corner from Washington Street to Church Street, my heart sank. The place was all shuttered up. The "Open" sign was not illuminated. I pulled the old Subaru into the parking lot and noticed the sign on the door which listed the hours. Closing time on Saturdays was 4:00. I had missed it by less than fifteen minutes. Boy, was I disappointed! I was just about to sadly drive home, but I got a ray of hope. I remembered there was at least one other barber shop in downtown Canton. Maybe I could still get a haircut. I drove through downtown Canton, "rubbernecking" to look for barber shops. I found two. Both were closed! I was ninety-nine percent ready to sadly drive home, but I had another thought: maybe there was a hair styling place in the Cobb's Corner shopping area (the area of clusters of stores, restaurants, gasoline stations, and professional buildings at the Canton/Stoughton/Sharon town lines). It was only a mile from downtown Canton. Honestly, I could not remember any hair styling place in that area but "something" was telling me there was one. I pulled into the "Village Shoppes at Canton" shopping center frantically looking for a hair styling shop. I did not see one. I was all set to turn around and drive home, when "what to my wondering eyes did appear" but Supercuts! Yes, there is a Supercuts at that shopping center! And, it was open!

Supercuts only made me partially happy, however. I once had my hair cut at Supercuts in Framingham- many years ago. At that time, it was cut by a female in her twenties. She was all "fancy/schmancy" and gave me an "O.K." cut, but did nothing with my neckline, so I had all kinds of annoying growth there. And, the haircut was way overpriced. I resigned myself to having to shave my neck when I got home and to getting a "so/so" overpriced haircut. Boy, was I wrong! "Jill" the stylist was a woman in her forties. I believe she was Russian. She was a fantastic barber! She was fast and incredibly good! And, she not only cut my hair with scissors and a comb, but she pulled out electric clippers and did my neck line, the area around my ears, my eyebrows, and even a few stray hairs on my forehead that no barber ever touches! (I always end up cutting those with scissors, myself.) I was thrilled with the fantastic haircut I got, but I figured this was going to really cost me! I expected to just about empty the cash out of my wallet. To my shock, Supercuts charged less than Collotta's! I was so thrilled that I gave Jill a generous tip and I still paid less than I usually do! I was out of Supercuts before 5:00. (They close at 6.)

Saturday evening, I reflected a lot about my haircut experience. I've had a very difficult year. In March I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease after being hospitalized with massive rectal bleeding. In July, I experienced a detached retina in my right eye. I've got major dental problems that I can't afford to pay for. I've had problems with my 1995 Subaru which is operating "on a wing and a prayer". I've been very depressed and very discouraged at times. In my distant past, I experienced many great miracles from God, answers to prayer, supernatural signs, etc. This was a way of life for me. The past five years, and especially the past one year has been a time that God seemed to be a million miles away and I wondered if I'd offended God beyond repair or if God had abandoned me. I've wondered where the God is that I once knew. Listen, this is why Christians cannot go by feelings. Sometimes it feels like God is a million miles away and has abandoned you- but that doesn't mean it's true! My story of the haircut may not seem like any big deal to you, but it was to me! Even after Frank & Vinnie's and two other barber shops were closed, late Saturday afternoon, God led me right to a great hair stylist at a great price. I got my haircut right on schedule! God cared about that kid who lost the axe head and God cared about my haircut!