A Story, Worth Remembering!  

This is a great story with a great message. Enjoy!          

          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 who 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 the 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 I 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 most boys would not want him on their team. 
          But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would
          give him a 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 closer 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 the 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."

          And now, a footnote to the story, 
          Messages regarding life choices, and the public discussion of decency
          are all too often suppressed.   We all have thousands of opportunities,
          so many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us
          with a choice: Do we pass along a spark of the Divine?  Or do we pass
          up that opportunity, and leave the world a bit colder in the process?

                                      
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