What would you do?
You make the choice! Don't look for a punch line; there isn't one.
Read
it
anyway. My question to all of you is: Would you have made the same
choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled
children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that
would
never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a
question:
"When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does
is
done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other
hildren
do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the
natural
order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I
believe,
that when a child like Shay comes into the world, an opportunity to
realize
true human nature presents itself, and it comes,
in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew
were
playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?"
Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like
Shay
on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were
allowed
to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay
could play.
The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none, he took matters
into
his own hands and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in
the
eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him
in
to
bat in the ninth inning."
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but
was
still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the
outfield. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic
just
to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his
father
waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with
two
outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and
Shay
was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to
win
the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all
but
impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly,
much
less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate,
the
pitcher moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softlyso Shay could at
least
be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily
and
missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball
softly
towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a
slow
ground ball right back to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft
grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay
would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher took the ball and turned and threw the ball on a
high
arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in
his
life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the
baseline,
wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to
second!"
By the time Shay rounded first base, the right fielder had the ball.
He
could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the ball
high
and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward
second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases
toward
home.
Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him
in
the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay,
run
home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the
hero
who hit the "grand slam" and won the game for his team.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his
face,
"the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and
humanity
into this world."
AND, NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second
thought,
but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people think
twice
about sharing. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely
through
cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often supressed
our schools and workplaces. If you're thinking about forwarding this
message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people on your address
list that aren't the "appropriate" ones
to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this
believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of
opportunities every single day to help realize the "natural order of
things." So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people
present
us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity
or do
we pass up that opportunity, and leave the world a little bit colder in
the
process?
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward
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