What would you do? You make the choice - don't look for a punch line as there
isn't one. Read it anyway.
My question to all of you is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fund-raising 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
children 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 realise 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, 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 softly
so 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 suppressed in 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 realise 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
