Two Choices .... Which one will you choose?
By turtle11
@turtle11 (331)
India
December 18, 2006 4:11am CST
What would you do? You make the choice! Don't look for a punch
line; There isn't one! Read it anyway. My question to all of you is:
Would you have made the same choice?
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:
"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,
physically and mentally handicapped 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 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 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 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 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 '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,
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 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 rounded
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 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, the opposing shortstop ran to help him
and turned 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 those watching were on their feet 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.
Shay didn't make it to another summer and died that winter,
having never forgotten being the hero and 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.
1 response
@clashing_titan (557)
• India
18 Dec 06
what was this?
i just cud not waste my time reading it...please be brief next time on!!
