Tuesday morning as I sat down in the barber's chair at Horn's Barber Shop in Carondelet, I sat down across from a wall of pictures that featured, among others, pictures of Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg trials. I asked about the pictures and learned that Bob Horn, the man who was cutting my hair, had served in the US military in World War II. His assignment...guarding Hermann Göring and other Nazi war criminals. Horn stepped forward and pointed with his scissors at the 19 year old soldier standing guard in the courtroom. "That's me," he said plainly. He went on to tell me how much he talked with Göring and others during the course of the trial. He knew these men personally. Sometimes, it was hard to believe they had committed such atrocities, as friendly as they were in person.
After my haircut and the interesting conversation, I got up to pay, but since I had no cash and Bob said he doesn't do enough business to take credit cards, I asked if I could just leave my license and go to the bank to get some money. Then I paused and said, "Actually I'll leave my license AND my book. I'm a pastor, and there's a better chance that a pastor would come back for his book than for his driver's license." When I returned and paid Bob, he said, "Usually I tell people, don't worry about it, you can pay me double next time." As I was putting my license back in my wallet and retrieving my book, the guy in the chair, Rogers, said, "OK, you're a pastor, so we've got a question for you." He went on to ask me who Cain & Seth married, then that led to two more questions before I had to call it a day.
I had simply stepped in to get a quick trim before heading back to Indiana to officiate at my Grandma's funeral. Instead, what I got was a hair cut, a brush up against history, and a chance to talk about the scriptures. Here's a link to a story from the Post-Dispatch (though it's hosted by another site) about Horn and his experience at Nuremberg.
Why is it that people don't ask easy questions?
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