RE:Putting Life into Perspective

[Guest guest]

Lucy,

You were right you need a box of Kleenex for this one. It was heart wrenching.

Ann

a story of common decency

Putting Life Into Perspective

This will probably give you chills, but it puts life into perspective!

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled

children, the father of one of the school's 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.

Everything God does is done with perfection. " Yet my son, Shay,

cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things other

children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son? "

The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I

believe, "the father answered, "that when God brings a child like

Shay into the world, an opportunity to realise the Divine Plan

presents itself. And it comes in the way 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 will let me play? " Shay's father knew that most

boys would not want him on their team. But the father 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 from his teammates.

Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are

losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on

our team and we'll put him up 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. At the top of the ninth inning Shay

put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he

was obviously ecstatic just to be 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 bases

loaded,

the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the

next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture

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 moved 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 toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the

ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the

soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game.

Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to

right field, far beyond 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 was

rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to second baseman for a tag.

But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been,

so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Shay

ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases

towards home.

As 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 home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero, for

hitting a "grand slam" and winning 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 the Divine Plan into

this world.

And now, a footnote to the story. We all send thousands of jokes

through e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending a

message regarding life choices, people think twice about sharing. The

crude, vulgar, and sometimes the obscene pass freely through

cyberspace, but public discussion of decency is too often suppressed

in school and the workplace.

If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably

thinking about which people on your address list aren't the

appropriate" ones to receive this type of message. The person who sent this to you

believes that we can all make a difference.

We all have thousands of opportunities a day to help someone. So many

seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a

choice. Do we pass along a spark or do we pass up the opportunity,

and leave the world a bit colder in the process? You have two choices

now:

1. Delete this.

2. Forward it to the people you care about

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