A
young and successful
executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too
fast in his new Jaguar. He
was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed
down when he thought he saw something.
As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed
into
the Jag's side door!
He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the
brick had been thrown.
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid
and pushed him up against a parked car shouting,
"What was that all about and who are you?! Just what the heck are
you
doing?! That's a new car and that brick you threw is
going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?!"
The young boy was
apologetic. "Please, mister, please! I'm sorry but I didn't
know what
else to do," he pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else
would
stop."
With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed
to a spot just around a parked car.
"It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out
of his
wheelchair and I can't lift him up."
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please
help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too
heavy
for me."
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly
swelling
lump in his throat. He hurriedly but carefully lifted the
handicapped boy back into
the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and
dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him
everything
was going to be okay.
"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the
stranger.
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his
wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very
noticeable,
but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He
kept
the dent there to remind him of this message:
"Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you
to get your attention!"
God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes
when we
don't have time to listen,
He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.
Contributed
by
Michael Laybourn
