Bricks

By John Heath, Chaplain

Glendoveer and Laurelhurst ElderPlace

An unusual trip took Josh on a drive through a crowded Chicago neighborhood.  A young and very successful executive, he was driving a sleek, black, 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE.  It was his pride and joy, and he had owned it for only two months.  

He was driving a bit too fast – always, always in a hurry -- but being careful to watch for kids darting out from between parked cars. He slowed down when he thought he saw something.  As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and – WHUMP! – it smashed into the side door of his shiny black Jag.  SCREECH…!!!  Brakes slammed!  Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.

Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car.  He shouted at the kid, “What was that all about, and who are you?  Just what the heck are you doing?”  Building up a head of steam he went on.  “That’s my new Jag, and that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money.  Why did you throw it?” 

“Please, mister, please.  I’m sorry!  I didn’t know what else to do!”  pleaded the youngster.  “I threw the brick because no one else would stop!”

Tears were running down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car.  “It’s my brother, mister,” he said.  “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”  Sobbing, the boy asked the 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 young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.  Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair, took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, and checked to see that everything was going to be okay.  He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk back to his car, a long slow walk. He stopped and stared at the dent in the side of his shiny black Jag. Five years passed and Josh never did fix the side door.  He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention.

“What does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”  (Micah 6:8).  Too often we forget what is important.  Our lives get out of kilter.  We have blinders on as we hurry about our business.  Sometimes, a brick is the only way to get our attention.