The Brick
By Mary Jo Sandberg
I’m sure it’s happened to many of you, just as it has to me. I open my email to find some type of chain letter telling me to read and forward it to everyone in my address book within 5 minutes, and then I’ll receive a miracle within 24 hours. I’ll usually take the time to read them, but I don’t forward them. I figure that if God is going to give me a miracle, He’s going to do it whether I’m forwarding emails or not.
There is, however, one story that I’ve received through email that means a lot to me, even though I didn’t forward it. It’s a story about a successful business man who is driving down the street in his fancy car, when a brick slams into the side. Angry, he pulls over to confront the person who threw it. He finds a young boy with tears running down his face, who explains that he didn’t know what else to do besides throw the brick because no one would stop to help him. His brother, who is wheelchair bound, had fallen off the curb and out of his chair, and was too heavy for the young boy to lift back up. The business man, moved beyond words, helped the handicapped boy back into his chair and cleaned up his cuts and scrapes. The business man didn’t have his car fixed, even though the dent was quite noticeable. He kept it there to remind him of this: 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.
Why does this story mean a lot to me? In 2003, my husband and I were living a pretty typical life- both working full-time, 2 children in their early teens who always had something going on, going up north most weekends to visit our parents, etc. Then on April 20th, after having a burning sensation in his chest over Easter weekend, my husband finally agreed to go to the emergency room. (Stubborn man!) The next thing I knew, he was wheeled away to have stents put in 2 of his arteries. He was 44 years old.
I went back to work the next week, my head still spinning with all that had happened. I was going through all my email, and there was the story about the brick-sent on the day my husband had his surgery. Boy did that hit home! I spent most of the day, and a lot of the next week with tears in my eyes, thinking about how lucky I was to still have him around, and vowing to slow down and not take things for granted. I learned how to cook healthier, and was sure I could get him to stop smoking…
Fast forward to 2008. One child in college, another a senior in high school, and both of us with different jobs. My husband had been struggling with a ton of back pain and numbness in his feet after lifting something wrong at work. On April 14th I received the brick email again, this time on the same day that we found out that he needed back surgery for a badly herniated disc. A coincidence? I don’t think so. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and this story really was God’s way of knocking me along side the head to get my attention. Once again I was so caught up in the day to day issues of raising children and keeping things running at home, that I was taking things for granted, and not taking the time to listen.
I’m certainly not perfect. My kids can still push my buttons, I get annoyed at my husband for continuing to smoke after all he’s been through, or when things don’t get done around the house as quick as I think they should be done. What has changed is the fact that I thank God every chance I get for all of the blessings in my life. Whether I’m attending Mass, spending an early morning hour at Eucharistic Adoration, or just watching the sun rise, I always make sure to thank God. I feel so blessed to have a hard working husband, 2 great kids, healthy parents, and a job I love, just to mention a few things.
I just really hope I don’t have to have a brick thrown at me again any time soon…