See Also:
Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero: The Albert Schweitzer Story.
Life Lesson #62 – Think Before You Act.
Andrew ran back home one Saturday yelling, “Grandpa, come quick! Two boys down the street are trying to hurt Mrs. Woodson’s dog!” His grandfather jumped up and said, “Come on, son, let’s go!”
When they got to Mrs. Woodson’s house, the boys had gone, but Mrs. Woodson still seemed a bit shaken. She had not seen the boys’ faces, however she had heard her little Sasha yelping, and saw them running away. Everything seemed okay now.
“Grandpa,” Andrew said, as they walked back home, “Why were those boys doing that?” His grandfather said, “Those boys need HELP.” He explained that children who enjoy hurting animals are likely to grow up to become adults who hurt people. “When I was about your age,” he said, “our next door neighbor was Mrs. Davidson, and she named her little dog John. You see, John Davidson was a very popular singer back then.” Andrew smiled. “There was also a boy in our neighborhood,” said the grandfather, “who delighted in hurting small animals, and one day he hurt Mrs. Davidson’s dog so badly that it died.
A few years later, the same boy hurt two people so badly that they died, and he was sent to prison for the rest of his life. If he is still living, he is still there. So,” continued the grandfather, “if you know who those two boys are, it would be good to address this problem now, before it goes too far.” Well, Andrew did know one of them, and he told his grandfather. His grandfather handled it from there, and no one even had to know that Andrew was involved. Andrew may have been a HERO that day to some boys who didn’t even know they needed a HERO!
– Jim Lord