A thought for today

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Subject: FW: Fw: I cried

Subject: FW: Fw: I cried

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. "

And now, a footnote to the story: We all send thousands of jokes through e-mail

without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages regarding life

choices, people think twice about sharing. The crude, vulgar and sometimes the

obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of decency is to

often suppressed in school and the workplace.

The person who sent this to you believes that we can all make a difference. 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?

Happy 4th of July all of you. Martha