The Confess Project

Would you go to church for a haircut? Ever preached in a barbershop? Churches and barbershops don’t seem to have much in common, but they are both places where people meet together, talk freely about deep concerns, and encourage each other.

Barber poles are red, white, and blue — a tradition that has nothing to do with the colors of the American flag.

The colors go back to the Middle Ages. Back then, people went to the barbershop for more than a haircut. They looked for barbers to perform medical procedures, including bloodletting.

Bloodletting was the procedure of choice for a range of maladies, from sore throats to the plague. In an attempt to heal the sick, barbers would simply cut open a vein and allow the blood to drain.

Disgusting? Yes!

On the barber pole, red represents blood, white symbolizes bandages, and blue is connected to the color of veins. According to the History website, barbers and surgeons were part of the same trade guild until 1745. It wasn’t until the 1800s that bloodletting fell out of favor with the medical community.

Now, any bleeding in a barbershop is completely accidental.

People will try just about anything in the search for healing and wholeness. The letter to the Hebrews...