Guest guest Posted May 12, 2000 Report Share Posted May 12, 2000 Jerry on Harsha's list posted a fine letter about Yogi Berra, and I followed it with a perspective on Roger Maris. Remaining in the baseball theme, perhaps this submission to Loominaries list by old friend Sadiq, brings it all home: --Jerry Katz -------------- In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools. At a Chush fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. 'Where's God's perfection?" The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query. I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child." He then told the following story about his son Shaya: One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will let me play?" Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya 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." Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even know-how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the bat and together they 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. Shaya 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," Shaya, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home." Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team. That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection." --------------------- http://www.nonduality.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 13, 2000 Report Share Posted May 13, 2000 In a message dated 5/12/00 5:46:39 AM Pacific Daylight Time, umbada writes: << In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools. At a Chush fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. 'Where's God's perfection?" >> Dear Jerry, Thank you for this truly beautiful story. Some part of me asks where's God's perfection every time l see the starving multitudes in some African country, ponder the holocaust, forms of genocide and other disasters. Of course, there are always answers -- individual and group karma, absolute vs relative reality, etc, if one can feel satisfied with them. But the story of Shaya carries the most heart-warming message: that every individual's misfortune provides the opportunity for us to learn how to be more compassionate, and that it is through compassion -- through our hearts -- that we become perfect. When l wrote my Yogi post l figured there'd be some Yankee fans that would come out of the woodwork, ha ha. ln 1961 when you were following Maris and the Yankees, l was rooting for the Reds, who had the misfortune of playing them in the world series that year. (That was at a time when l followed pro sports, which l don't much anymore -- but still college hoops.) So l can't share your love of Maris, but l stand behind my accolades for Yogi. )) love, jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 13, 2000 Report Share Posted May 13, 2000 Thank you for your response, Jerry. I know the story of Shaya was embellished, shlocky and unsophisticated (excuse me), but I recognized the reality of it and I'm glad you did. I wrote a letter to Gill recounting times in my childhood a bunch of kids showed kindness to other kids. Since I wrote that letter I'm thinking of other incidents. The stories of childhood compassion that I personally witnessed go on and on. As cruel as kids are (yeah, we made fun of a lot of kids,too) they can also be good and understanding depending upon their nature and how they are raised. In this world some compassion has to go on and on and on. Except for the 1961 Cincinatti Reds. Jerry Katz http://www.nonduality.com , GCWein1111@a... wrote: > In a message dated 5/12/00 5:46:39 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > umbada@n... writes: > > << In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to > learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush > for their entire school career, while others can be > mainstreamed into conventional schools. At a Chush > fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a > speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. > After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he > cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? > Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child > cannot understand things as other children do. My child > cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. > > 'Where's God's perfection?" > >> > > Dear Jerry, > Thank you for this truly beautiful story. Some part of me asks where's > God's perfection every time l see the starving multitudes in some African > country, ponder the holocaust, forms of genocide and other disasters. Of > course, there are always answers -- individual and group karma, absolute vs > relative reality, etc, if one can feel satisfied with them. But the story of > Shaya carries the most heart-warming message: that every individual's > misfortune provides the opportunity for us to learn how to be more > compassionate, and that it is through compassion -- through our hearts -- > that we become perfect. > > When l wrote my Yogi post l figured there'd be some Yankee fans that would > come out of the woodwork, ha ha. ln 1961 when you were following Maris and > the Yankees, l was rooting for the Reds, who had the misfortune of playing > them in the world series that year. (That was at a time when l followed pro > sports, which l don't much anymore -- but still college hoops.) So l can't > share your love of Maris, but l stand behind my accolades for Yogi. )) > > love, > jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 14, 2000 Report Share Posted May 14, 2000 > 'Where's God's perfection?" > > > That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling > down his face, those 18 boys reached their level of God's > perfection." Darn it, Jerry. Every time I read this story, I just let the tears flow! Darn it, Jerry! :-))))) HAHAHAH and HOHOHO! Peace - That's What I'm Talking About - Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.