When I was 15 years old, I got my first real job, no more paper routes for me. I was working at the S.S. Kresge Company Store in Fond du Lac, WI. I started by sweeping and mopping the floors, emptying the trash cans, cleaning the bathrooms, and other exciting stuff. I think I was making about $2.00 an hour and was thrilled to have a job.
On my first day there, a young man whose name I don’t recall, who was done at the store in 2 days, was showing me the ropes. Yes, there were some actual ropes involved in the job. (you can ponder what that might have been) I learned where all the trash cans were located, where the brooms were stored, the locations of the mop and bucket, and the locations of the bathrooms. On the second day I did all the work and he just followed me around to make sure i did everything. He was a terrible teacher. I was a terrific learner; I figured out how to do and use most of the tools of the trade and even invented a few of my own. (The famous tennis ball on a stick - should have pattened that one)
For about a year, I faithfully did my job, eventually training my replacement, my best friend Doug. I was now only cleaning 2 days a week and “working stock” the other days. As I look back, I, too, was a terrible teacher, but Doug figured it out. After all, while I was a terrible teacher, I was a list maker, and I had lists for every task and every day. I think that is why I got promoted.
It was during my closing days of mopping that I met a man in a 3-piece suit, who wore a hat indoors - he was styling. He watched me mop the floors and asked me how long I had worked there; my talent must have been obvious. He then informed me that I was not cleaning the floor; I was relocating the dirt. He volunteered to show me how to mop the floor. I watched closely as he mopped almost the entire lunch counter area. I was impressed and relieved; I felt a little like Tom Sawyer, who had just conned someone into doing my work.
I will never forget that day, and I have since taught many people, whether they asked me to or not, how to mop properly and not just relocate dirt. I will never forget it for the man who taught me how to mop had mopped those very floors when he was my age, and today he did not do much mopping. His name was Joseph Antonini, and the reason I will never forget him was not his nice suit or his “fancy name.” It was his current job that made it memorable. He was the President of the SS Kresge Corporation and later became CEO of the store that grew out of Kresge’s five-and-dime, The K-Mart Corporation.
It would be akin to learning to preach from Martin Luther. As we begin our journey in Scripture, we are reminded of who it is that is “teaching us” through the pages of Scripture. It is the author himself. This fact should make our study more memorable, the advice more powerful, and the lessons more memorable.
While I don’t teach mopping much anymore, I do love to teach the Word of God, mainly because it is “The Word of God!” I pray we are all learning as we use God’s Word as our teacher!
<><Pastor Craig
p.s. Private mopping lessons are available on a limited basis.