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WORTH REFLECTING ON !!
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 fund raising 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
(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. His Father watched with 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 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 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 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.
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 fund raising 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
(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. His Father watched with 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 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 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 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.
