Fw: Two Choices

[Guest guest]

Baba's teachings in a wonderful story!

 

With Love and Light, Christine

 

 

- Christine Coveney

Monday, March 06, 2006 6:48 PM

Fw: Two Choices

 

 

What would you do? You make the choice! Don't look for a punch line; Thereisn't

one! Read it anyway. My question to all of you is: Would you have madethe 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 amuch-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 teammates. 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 sendingmessages 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.

You now have two choices:1. Delete2. ForwardMay your day be a Shay Day sunny today & always.

 

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