Sentiment touch
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thimmi 
Posts: 2
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 Posted: 09:30PM Aug 1, 2008 |
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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:
"Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is
done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as
other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as
other children do. Where is God's perfection?"
The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's
anguish and stilled by the piercing query.
"I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child
like this into the world the perfection that he seeks is in the
way people react to this 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 and some confidence to be accepted by others
in spite of his handicaps.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked
if Shay could play, not expecting much. The boy looked around for
guidance and a few boys nodded approval, why not? So 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."
Shay struggled over to the team's bench, put on a team shirt with
a broad smile and his father had a small tear in his eye and
warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his 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 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
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 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 the other
team 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
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 game would now be over, but 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 head of the first baseman, 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 ran
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 second base.
By the time Shay started towards second base, the right fielder
had the ball, the smallest guy on their team, who had a chance to
be the hero for his team for the first time. He could have thrown
the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the
pitcher's intentions, and he too, intentionally threw the ball
high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward second base deliriously as the runners ahead of
him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, "Shay,
Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay." As Shay reached second base, the
opposing shortstop ran to help him and turned him in the
direction of third base, shouting, "Run to third! Shay, run to
third."
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams and those
watching were on their feet, 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, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection
and helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this
world."
Shay didn't make it to another summer and died that winter,
having never forgotten being the hero, making his father so
happy, and coming home and seeing his mother tearfully embrace
her little hero of the day!
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 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 to brighten the day of those
with us the least able, and leave the world a little bit colder
in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats
it's least fortunate amongst them.
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tommysmo
Posts: 672
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Posted: 12:35PM Sep 25, 2008 |
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Did you ever check Snopes on this one? It's not gonna make you weep or smile anymore...
Beer is your friend, if you let it be. |
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