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People always say how mean kids can be, never how nice they
can be.
This story will either make you cry, give you cold chills or just
leave you cold, 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 that 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
as 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 realize 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 the boys would not want him on their
team. But
the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would
give him 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 try to 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
the 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 the 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."
We all have dozens of opportunities a day to help realize God's plan.
So many seemingly trivial interactions between people present us with
a choice; do we pass along a spark of the Divine-love that God gives
to us every day? Or do we pass up that opportunity and leave the
world a bit colder in the process?
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