A very moving story some of us may be able to relate to.

[Guest guest]

What would you do ?

You make the choice; Don't look for a punch line. There isn't one.

Read it anyway.

My question to all of you is: Would you have made the 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 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. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and

asked if Shay could play.

The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none, he took

matters into his own hands 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. "

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 outfield.

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, 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 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 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 took the ball and turned and threw the ball on

a high arc to right field, far beyond the 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 rounded first base, the right fielder had the ball.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but

he understood the pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the

ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously

circled the bases toward home.

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 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. "

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 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, and leave the world a little bit colder in the

process?