"One
of life's greatest choices is an act of love"
We
all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the
'natural order of things.'
A
wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least
fortunate amongst them.
Two
Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, 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, who was
mentally and physically disabled 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 I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing
baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew
that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their
team, but as a father
I
also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give
him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be
accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I
approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting
much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance 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.'
Shay
struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a
team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my
heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being
accepted.
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
right field. 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 I 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 because 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, recognizing that the other team was putting winning
aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob
the ball in softly so Shay could at least 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
game would now be over.
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 threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out
of reach of all team mates.
Everyone
from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to
first!
Run
to first!'
Never
in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first
base.
He
scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and
startled.
Everyone
yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching
his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and
struggling to make it to the base.
By
the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the
ball,the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to
be the hero for his team.
He
could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw
the ball high and far over the third-baseman's
head.
Shay
ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him
circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay
reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by
turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to
third!
Shay,
run to third!'
As
Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators,
were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! 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'.
Shay
didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and
seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the
day!
AND
NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE 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 hesitate.
The
crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but
public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our
schools and workplaces.
Do
we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up
those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the
process?
You
now have two choices:
1.
Delete
2.
Forward
May
your day, be a Shay Day.
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