Story of Compassion: The Brick

Dear Friends here is a story about compassion, shared by a close friend on Whatsapp.

A young and successful executive was travelling down a neighbourhood street, in his new Jaguar. Suddenly, a brick smashed into his side door!

He slammed on the brakes and backed the car back to the spot where the brick had been thrown – and saw a kid standing. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and shouted at him.

 
‘What was that all about? That’s a new car and that brick you threw has caused damage that is going to cost a lot of money to repair. 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.’

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 man swallowed 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 shocked 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 car. 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!‘