Theme: Error, repair, free will

The graffiti wall

Claudio entered the house with his head bowed. He went straight to his room and closed the door. He and other boys had painted the wall of Mr. Ernesto's house, which lived on the other block, and now he was sorry to have done it.

The wall had recently been painted, but they left it streaked and stained.

Claudio knew what was right and what was wrong. And smearing the neighbor's wall with paint was definitely wrong.

However, to his friends it seemed like a great adventure, and they were excited. When Claudio threatened to give up on the idea, they called him a coward and said that Mr. Ernesto was a grumpy old man who deserved an ugly house. In order not to upset his friends, Claudio ended up participating in the graffiti, but now he felt bad about it.

Lying on his bed, several thoughts crossed his mind:

“And now, what should I do? If I tell Mom and Dad, they'll scold me! Maybe it is better to go and apologize to Mr. Ernesto and explain that I didn't want to do that, that was Tonho's idea. Maybe he will be angry only with Tonho, but then Tonho will be angry with me. I won't have the courage to tell anyone. What if someone finds out? Will I be arrested?”

Claudio went to sleep late, tormented by remorse and bad thoughts. The next day, as soon as he came out of his bedroom, his parents asked him to talk.

They explained that Mr. Ernesto had been there earlier. He showed a footage that his front neighbor had done with his cell phone, in which Claudio appeared with other boys, graffiti on the wall.

Claudio went pale. He said nothing and started to cry.

When he was able to speak, he explained to his parents everything that had happened and how he felt. His mother consoled him:

- I'm glad you're sorry, son. It is important to recognize our mistakes when we do wrong.

- Sometimes - said the father - we end up doing things that we are not proud of, because we are still imperfect, and we are learning to live according to the laws of God.

Upon hearing those words, Claudio smiled in relief. It looked like a huge weight had come off his back. He thought his parents were being quite reasonable:

- Gee, thanks! Look, don´t worry, I will never do that again, I promise!

And, thinking that the matter was closed, Claudio turned and was about leaving the room, when his mother said:

- Wait a minute, son. We're not done yet. Regretting is the first step, now you have to make amends for your mistake.

- That's right - continued the father - and that's why you will go to Mr. Ernesto's house right now to apologize. And you will use your money to buy new paint and paint the wall on the weekend.

- What? why just me? - Replied Claudio - The true offender was Tonho, he should do all this.

- We cannot blame others for your mistake. They are responsible for their actions. You are responsible for your actions and your choices. You can talk to Tonho and the others if you want, but the consequence of your attitude is your responsibility - explained the mother.

Claudio was unable to argue and ended up doing what his parents recommended. He was very ashamed when he apologized to Mr. Ernesto. And he was very disappointed with Tonho, who did not want to help by buying paint or painting the wall.

But Claudio became closer to Robinho, who also felt like him, and helped him with everything. The two were very tired of painting the wall on Saturday and finishing up the painting on Sunday.

But it was worth it, because in the end, everything was fine. Mr. Ernesto even became sympathetic to Claudio and jokingly told him when he saw him:

- Hey Claudio, if you want to paint my wall again, I'll leave it, ok?

Claudio was sometimes ashamed to remember that he had painted the wall. But not much, because he soon remembered the rest of the story and knew that if he had made a mistake in the beginning, he had done the right thing in the end.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com