The Brick, the Dent, and the Jaguar

 A young, successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street and driving 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 his 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 me 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 place just behind 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.’ Sobbing openly, 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 and moved to life 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 that they were minor. ‘Thank you, and may God bless you,’ the grateful child told the stranger. Too shaken for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. Then he took a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but that driver never bothered to repair the dented 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.’

The above story, called ‘The Brick, The Dent and The Jaguar, was written on May 7, 1999, by Jeanne-Marie Fritts. 

I would like to add this quote that is well-worth bearing in mind:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

We have committed this Golden Rule to memory.

Now, let’s commit it to our way of life .

   by Edwin Markham