Foot Loose

Do you see those who are skillful in their work? They will serve kings; they will not serve common people. - Proverbs 22.29

The one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal. - John 1.27

Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. - John 13.5

Dr. Holly Jones, a prominent Houston rheumatologist, needed a favor. Her husband, serving in Iraq, had a problem on his base and asked her to call someone with the juice to fix it. She called Rocky Carroll. Problem solved.

Rocky Carroll wasn't on the Joint Chiefs of Staff; he didn't serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee; he wasn't a Congressman or Senator or even a DC lobbyist. He made boots in a strip-mall shop across the street from a Jiffy Lube. But he made them really, really well.

When an intruder wounded Rocky in a shootout, President George W. Bush called the hospital to check on him, and Texas Governor Rick Perry bought him a bigger gun. He made boots for seven presidents and one pope. He flew on Air Force One and spent the night in the governor's mansion in Austin. He died a month or so ago sitting in the back of his shop. He was seventy-nine.

His friend Dr. Jones explained Rocky's appeal: “You don’t have to be this all-pieced-together perfect person. He was a hodgepodge of eclectic, quirky but bright and well-meaning. There was no apology for who he was.” Rocky Carroll was skilled in his work, and he stood before kings.

John the Baptist said he was unworthy to take off Jesus' sandals, which means that he would have been honored to do so. Jesus washed twenty-four dirty feet, none of which wore custom-made cowboy boots and two of which belonged to a traitor. I bet he got them all completely clean. A Christian legend says that the sign over the carpenter shop in Nazareth read, "My yokes fit." As Martin Luther didn't say, "The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes."

To what has God called you today? Do it well. You will find grace in influence before the eternal throne; you will rise into the Heavens to meet the Lord of Glory; and you will dwell for eternity in the King's mansion.

For more information, see The Soul and Soles of a Texas Boot Maker