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Category: Barbershop Theology

Big Little Words

Posted on March 3, 2012March 3, 2012 by dcaldwell23

It’s been over 45 years since Mom gave her first haircut in Caldwell’s Barber Shop. And though so many years have passed, she will tell you exactly who her first customer was and what he said. Mom was a nervous twenty-nine year old and had just graduated from the Lawton Barber School. Dad needed help,…

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Barbershop Theology: Ritual of Preparation

Posted on November 5, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

“Spectacular achievements come from unspectacular preparation.”  Roger Staubach I looked at the clock and mercifully it read, 5:35. Dad would end his day by putting away his scissors, resting his clippers, counting the cash in the drawer, and writing something in his ledger. But he would do that no earlier than 6pm. I knew I could…

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Barbershop Theology — God Almighty

Posted on October 15, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

“Good God Almighty!” The words were as emphatic as they were profane; those three words seemed to be the natural and uninhibited expression in the moment. I looked to the entrance of Dad’s barbershop to see a soldier in his dress greens framed by the doorway. He was grinning ear to ear. I think he…

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Barber Shop Theology – To Cuss or Not to Cuss

Posted on October 8, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

I’m a hypocrite in more ways than I like to admit. In fact, I’m a hypocrite in some ways that I won’t admit. Wait, maybe it’s not so much that I’m a hypocrite, I just tend to have double-standards here and there. In particular… Sometimes Expletives Make Me Laugh      Most commonly, folks would define…

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Barbershop Theology – God the Father

Posted on October 2, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

A Father’s Words at Quittin’ Time As we locked the front entrance to the barber shop, a half hour an hour have normal quittin’ time, I would say something like, “Wow, that was a really long day.” Dad opened the shop at 7am and closed at 6pm. When we didn’t leave until 6:30 or near…

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Barbershop Theology – Pass the Salt

Posted on September 10, 2011November 24, 2022 by dcaldwell23

Pass the Salt Salt. What an amazing additive. Salt. Never set the table without it. Most of us handle a salt shaker each and every day. For me, it always made food taste better. In the right amounts salt will accentuate the natural flavor of an otherwise bland food. The Salt of the Earth Jesus…

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Barbershop Theology: My Faith Hero

Posted on September 3, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

An Honest Faith I first heard a small diatribe on the subject of faith while visiting Dad’s barber shop.  I was a college student and had grown very interested in my parents’ renewed passion for Christ.  I tuned in a bit more than usual when a fella that I barely knew started to deliver his…

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Barbershop Theology: Faith at the Razor’s Edge

Posted on August 27, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

A straight razor is an imposing instrument. I have watched my dad use one a thousand times, my mom too for that matter. I loved to watch Dad extend the razor strap and whisk the blade back and forth on it. He would hone that blade to a pristine cutting edge before giving a shave…

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Barber Shop Theology – Directions

Posted on August 13, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

How many words are in the Bible? “In the beginning God . . .” Look, four words at the start. “Yes, I am coming soon.”  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. See that? There are twenty more words at the end of the last book of…

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Barbershop Theology – a lesson from a hot check

Posted on July 30, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

Barbershop Theology I have attended college. I have attended four of them. I learned a lot at college. I have degrees that suggest, “Hey, this guy learned.” But I can never replace the lessons I learned as the shoe-shine boy in my dad’s barbershop. Hundreds of people came through Caldwell’s Barber Shop over the years. …

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Barber Shop Theology – The Big & Small of it

Posted on July 16, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

The Big and Little of the Gospel  I’ve heard it said that the gospel is simple enough for a child to understand and still so complex that theologians can discuss it at great length. This makes the gospel all the more beautiful. Just how wonderful is the gospel? Even angels long to look into these…

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Barber Shop Theology … continued (Hurry & Wait)

Posted on July 9, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

We believe in the “self-made-man” and we believe that if you want something badly enough, all you have to do is work hard. And there is a proverb that seems purely American, “God helps those who help themselves.” Wikipedia calls this phrase “a motto which emphasizes the importance of self-initiative.” I’m all for self-initiative. I appreciate a self-starter. The challenge is to draw the line before we become self-shepherds.

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Barbershop Theology: Waiting for…

Posted on July 2, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

TO YOU Blue Collar Workman who found respite and comfort; TO YOU Regular Guy who found the barbershop to be a happy medium between a beer-joint and Baptist church; TO YOU Mr. B.S. who told your whoppers and enjoyed them most of all; TO YOU Guy Who Told Mr. B.S. that he was full of it;

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Barber Shop Theology: Integration of the Mind

Posted on June 18, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

One of the most wonderful places I went to as a boy was Doe Doe Park. The swimming pool was huge. It had swings, and a tower and multiple diving boards. In 1966 this place was pristine, especially in comparison to all the dirty cow ponds, shallow creeks and muddy lakes most of us were accustomed to. There were no swimming pools in Apache. I remember Doe Doe Park fondly. I remember that it was for white only. Sadly, that didn’t bother me; it was the world as I knew it.

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Barbershop Theology: First Haircut

Posted on June 11, 2011September 13, 2022 by dcaldwell23

So, I have no idea why I said it, but I blurted, “I sure can.” (I had never given a haircut in my life, but I had watched Mom and Dad give a million of ‘em.) “Alrighty then,” he stated as he stumbled into the empty barber chair (it was a two chair shop). “Jush gimme a little trim and make me look good.” I looked at my dad. He lifted his chin and nodded his head forward only slightly, barely perceptible. But it spoke volumes to me. It was the “get-after-it” signal.

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Barbershop Theology: Mortality, the Mortician, and Me

Posted on May 28, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

It was cold. I remember that. I had just started my part of the closing routine in Caldwell’s Barber Shop, sweeping clumps of hair, filling the lather machine, and straightening up the magazine tables. I was at the barber shop following a day at school. Mainly, I was just killing time and hoping we could…

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Barbershop Theology: Let’s Make a Deal, Pt. 2

Posted on May 21, 2011February 15, 2023 by dcaldwell23

Once again the box of tickets was given a shake. Caught up in the moment of high hopes and desperation, I launched my uber-prayer. “Dearmostgraciousheavenlyfatherwhoartinheaven, if you let me win, I promise I’ll tithe.”

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Barbershop Theology: Let’s Make A Deal

Posted on May 14, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

I suppose it was a Saturday afternoon. It could have easily been a weekday in early summer. Hair clippings clumped around the base of my dad’s barber chair and it was my habit to grab a broom and sweep from time to time. (A habit highly encouraged by my dad). The barber shop had three,…

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Barbershop Theology: Identify Theft

Posted on April 30, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

Who are you? The class clown? The jock, the drama girl, the tall guy, the dud with the funny laugh?  He’s the cowboy, she’s the artist. It’s interesting how we identify ourselves and others. Sometimes our profession becomes our identity.  I am a doctor, a teacher, a plumber, a mechanic, or a zoo keeper.  That’s…

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Barbershop Theology, Part Five: Down on Their Luck

Posted on April 16, 2011February 12, 2012 by dcaldwell23

I’ll never forget my dad’s two questions. First, dad asked him how he had lost his arm and leg. Without hesitating the fellow said that he had been trying to jump a train and he had ‘miscalculated’ the jump.

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