The Brick

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 up the Jag 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 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 to 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.