John married the love of his life, Helene, when he was just 22 years old. He began his career right out of college as a steel salesman. By the time he was 25 he was offered a coveted promotion, and the young family moved to Chicago.
A third child was born, John continued to excel in his career and he and Helene bought their first home. It was a complete surprise when he got the news that his fatherin- law had passed away at age 65 of a massive heart attack. It was an even greater shock when Helene’s brothers asked John to move back to St. Louis to help them run the family business.
Tugboats pushing barges loaded with goods up and down the Mississippi River. That was the business Helene’s father had started thirty years ago. John knew nothing about river trade, and had just established himself in the Chicago steel market. Still, he felt a responsibility to family, so he agreed to quit his job and move his young brood back to St. Louis.
The company had been prosperous, and Helene’s brother’s had grown accustomed to finer things. They seemed to have developed an air about them that implied superiority. The captains of their tugboats were hard men with faces that had been leathered by the sun and hands that had been calloused by the labor. The gap in the two worlds was causing a “disruption” in communication.
John had come from a humble background and was naturally charismatic. The brothers thought he would be a better fit in relating to the captains. (And appreciated that it would allow them to focus on more “important” aspects of the business like lobbying congress and attending black tie events).
“Roger. Roger.” John’s daughter, Megan, remembered her father shouting over the static in the phone line on Saturday mornings.
“Tom, what’s your location?” he would ask one of his favorite captains. Then he would laugh at something she wasn’t privy to.
“I hear you, Tom. Ten-four,” he would say as he hung up the phone.
Megan loved hearing her father speak a jargon that she didn’t normally hear. He would only smile when she asked him why he said “Roger Roger” to a man named “Tom”. She imagined these men looking like the captain in her “Moby Dick” book and asked her father if they were his friends. “Of course!” her father would say. Megan was amazed at how her father could so easily talk to these hard men of the river - even enjoy them - and at the same time look so handsome in a tuxedo.
Years later Megan was studying Corinthians and learning about the disciple Paul. Paul’s “policy” in serving was to enter into the world of those he was trying to save in all things but sin (Corinthians 9:19-23). It occurred to Megan that her father had been a lot like Paul. He was capable of so seamlessly entering into another world because he genuinely loved all people, never considering himself above others.
How beautiful!