WATCH OUT FOR THE BRICK!
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. Who could blame him, with his Jag boasting a 240-horsepower engine? He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars, however, 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 spun the Jag back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.
He jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid with a buzz cut, wearing tattered cargo pants 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?" Building up a head of steam, he shouted, "That's a new car and that brick you through is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"
"Please, Mister. 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 dripping down the boys chin as he pointed around the 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, 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."
Deeply moved, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be okay. "Thank you," the grateful child said to him.
The man then watched the little boy push his brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long walk back to his Jaguar – a long, slow walk. He never did repair 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 you to get your attention.
Isn't that true with most of us as well? We get so busy with our work, our hobbies, our sports, watching television or reading a book, or caught up with all those things we think we have to have done right now, that we fail to hear the voices that speak to our hearts. Whether it is a spouse, a child, a grandchild, a student, a co-worker, a friend, or just someone in need, we sometimes miss the moment because we are too busy rushing through life. We fail to pay attention to the life around us and the people of our lives.
Sometimes it takes a brick called cancer or heart attack or some other illness before we stop and realize the importance of paying attention to life. Sometimes it takes an unexpected twist in life to remind us to be sure that we are not just rushing through life without taking the time to help others, to love others, to bless others, to serve others, and to reach out and listen and care about the people of our lives.
I suspect that it is also true for many of us when it comes to paying attention to God. We get so busy that we don't learn to listen daily for that voice that calls out to us into deeper places of our souls. Until something happens that hits us like a brick and, like our relationships with family and friends, we realize that we have taken our faith in God for granted as well.
Perhaps that is what the Psalmist meant when he wrote in Psalm 46: "Be still. Be still and know that I am God." That word "still" would be translated in our language today to mean "Be silent." Be quiet in your heart and soul and listen. Listen for the voice of God that calls out to you to remind you of God's presence, God's grace and love, and God's calling for you to live in ways that honor and serve who you are called to be in Jesus Christ.
Be careful. Don't live life so fast that you miss the whisper of God in your soul. Sometimes, when you don't have time, I wonder if God doesn't toss a brick our way to get our attention and remind us of what really matters in life. The choice is ours each and every day: Learn to be silent were still and listen for the whisper of God in our hearts – or wait for the brick. What will it be for you?
Grace and Peace,
Jeff