THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Derek Raridon, a fellow you've likely never heard of until now, and I have a lot in common. We both work as school custodians while holding down other responsibilities. Both of us labor in the athletic complex of our respective institutions with the basketball gym being our primary focus. We're good with mops and can dust mop a gym floor in nothing flat. But that's where our similarities end.

For one thing, Derek Raridon is both younger than me and more experienced in the field of custodial work than am I. He is 21 and has been working in this capacity since taking the job part-time when he was 16. He also stands more than a foot taller than me as he is 6' 6". Derek is also a college junior majoring in Finance at North Central College in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. All that height is put to good use by Derek in another department of life which differs from my own — he is a starting forward for his college's basketball team while I failed to make the Fayette County Junior High Cubs basketball team when I tried out long before Derek Raridon was even horn.

Isn't that pretty cool, though? A young man takes a job cleaning the school gym (his father was and is the head basketball coach) and sticks with it even after he is accepted to the school and becomes one of its better basketball players. He actually cleans up in preparation for the game in which he will play and often, as the team's second leading scorer, will star. Then, it's off to class, back to work and practice, and then studying or doing whatever college students do.

Here's my prediction. Derek Raridon is going to make an impact in life and in his community when he finishes college and enters the workforce. He will be economically successful and he will be a leader wherever he is and in whatever field he pursues. Why? Because he's learned the value of hard work, commitment, and stick-to-itiveness. Long hours don't bother him and he knows how to juggle and manage responsibilities. And, he has a wonderful humility coupled with his academic prowess and athletic talent.

It's that humility that really strikes me. His Dad expected him to work even though he was the head basketball coach. He didn't get a cushy job but took one that can be a bit disgusting at times. (Trust me on that one!) Young Derek toils while in high school and then keeps on while playing ball as a college student. Again, couldn't he have found something easier and less messy? Instead, he continues to serve.

In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul talks about Jesus humbling Himself to take the form of not just a man, but of a servant. Now I'm not equating Derek Raridon with Jesus Christ but his example does give a glimpse, a picture, of that sort of humility. We, as Jesus' disciples, are called to follow his example and to take the role of a servant and to care for one another and for "the least of these." Now, let's go do it . . .