Today marks the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Gettysburg.

A friend sent me a link to a tract written by a Jewish doctor who attended the wounded and dying of that battle which raged from July 1 to July 3, 1863. It’s a very long tract, but fascinating.  The following is an excerpt from Charlie Coulson, the Drummer Boy by Dr. Max L. Rossvally, a surgeon in the United States Army. In the first part of the tract, Charlie Coulson shares his faith with the doctor as he dies from his wounds at Gettysburg.  The story continues:

For ten long years [after Gettysburg] I fought against Christ with all the hatred of an orthodox Jew until God in His mercy brought me in contact with a Christian barber, who proved himself a second instrument in my conversion to God.

At the close of the American war I was detailed as inspecting surgeon, and to take charge of the military hospital in Galveston, Texas. Returning one day from an inspecting tour, and on my way to Washington, I stopped to rest a few hours at New York. After dinner I stepped downstairs to the barber’s shop (which is attached to every hotel of note in the United States). On entering the room I was surprised to see hung around the room sixteen beautifully framed Scripture texts in different colors. Sitting down in one of the barber’s chairs I saw directly opposite to me, hanging up in a frame on the wall, this notice:

“PLEASE DO NOT SWEAR IN THIS ROOM.”

No sooner had the barber put the brush to my face than he began also to talk to me about Jesus. Continue reading “A Barber’s Faithful Witness”