[Faith-talk] A Great Story

[Rob Kaiser]

Please forward this on.

 

Rob Kaiser

Email;

rcubfank at sbcglobal.net

Thought you might like this.  Gary & Nancy Barsch.





 

 

 

  _____  

, A WONDERFUL STORY...

 


 



 



 


 A WONDERFUL STORY...

 

 

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 gi
ve 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.

 

If you're thinking about forwarding 
this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in 
your address book who 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 those
opportunities 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.

 


You now have two choices:

 

1. Delete

 

2. Forward

 

 

May your day, be a Shay Day.  

 

 

 


MAY GOD BLESS EVERYONE WHO  

 

DECIDES TO PASS THIS ON IN   
 MEMORY OF SHAY..............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- 

Sent from iPad.

 

 

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