Righteousness in Motion
By Craig Hill
Today and yesterday I worked with two righteous men that
came into my home because our water pressure was dropping un-expectedly in our
house when more than one faucet was open. First, a man from Lew’s plumbing came
with his assistant to diagnose the problem. He had installed a pressure regulator
in our home last Fall because the Carmel City water was coming in at too high
of a pressure and it was damaging some of our fixtures and appliances. The
Lew’s plumber got right to it, and replaced the pressure regulator, which did
not solve the problem. He systematically tried a few other things, and isolated
the problem to our 16-year-old water softener, that has recently been repaired
and put back in service after not using it for a few years. He looked me evenly
in the eye when he spoke, and he spoke directly and honestly. He came across as
what you might call “forthright.” Direct, humble, yet to the point. He knew his
business, and wasted no time in accomplishing it.
The last time he was out, my wife Regina heard him giving advice
to his co-worker about treating his wife better – about treating his wife like
Christ treats the church, sacrificing for her benefit and glory. His assistant
frowned at him, and he frowned back, and said kind of gruffly, “Look it up!
It’s in the Bible.”
And today, Paul from Frey Water Conditioning came to
investigate what was wrong with the water softener, and to bring me 10 bags of
solar salt. He was clean-cut and careful. He asked if it was okay if he came in
the front door to do his work. I showed him where the water softener was. He
had looked up the repair that had been done to it a few months back. He opened
two faucets, saw the water pressure drop, bypassed the softener and saw the
water pressure return to normal. He agreed with the Lew’s plumber that the
water softener was at fault.
He very carefully, a bit too carefully for me, explained the
pros and cons of repairing this 16-year-old softener or buying a new one for
$1350. The new one would use less salt and less water. The old one would only
cost about $325 to repair. He stood straight on with squared shoulders and
explained it all carefully, and in a genuine way. He was what you call
“forthright” in his manner. He has an honest countenance. I kindly cut him off
and said, “I’ll take the new one, and that means I can get back to work.” I
walked back toward my home office, which was on the other side of the front
door. I knew he would follow me to the door. I really did have to get back to
work (in my home office). I figured that was that. I was sold.
But Paul followed me over the front door and I could tell he
had more to say. He squared up his shoulders toward me again and crossed his
arms. He explained that he was going to deduct from the price the cost of the
last repair, and the salt he had brought today. He explained that he could
install it Monday or Tuesday. And I thought, “He didn’t have to do that
discount. I had said ‘sold’ and tried to end the conversation. This is an
honest, righteous man.”
Now I’ve dealt with Frey Water Conditioning in New Palestine
since I owned a house out in Shelby County. When I moved to Carmel, I kept
using them for water conditioning and water filtering equipment and service,
because every time I work with them, all their people are just like Paul:
forthright, honest, straight-forward, and they do what they say they are going
to do.
I complemented Paul on how he handled himself, and that it
was a pleasure to do business with them.
Now the Lord said to the prophet Samuel, “Do not consider
his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not
look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but
the Lord looks at the heart.”
Yet Samuel said of David, “He was glowing with health and
had a fine appearance and handsome features.” And Samuel said to Saul about
David, “. . . the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart . . .”
And Goliath the Philistine said of David, “He looked David
over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and
handsome, and he despised him.”
And these men I worked with came across this same way. I
can’t say how handsome they were – I have a blind eye for that sort of thing in
other men. No, I couldn’t say if they were handsome. But they came across like
“steely-eyed missile-men”, as I like to say. They seemed forthright, honest,
competent, and righteous. Yet they were just doing their jobs. But they were
doing their jobs in a forthright manner. It was sort of like “poetry in
motion”, but it was really more. It was “righteousness in motion.” I hope I can
do the same.
