A Judge Of Society

I was so moved when I read this story, I wanted to share it with as many people as I could. I posted it here on my blog. Read the story and see what you think:

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line,
there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question 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, 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 a much-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 (not
expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around or 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 and, with a broad smile, put on a
team shirt. His Father watched with 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 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,
recognizing that the other team was 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 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. 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 first
baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from
the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first!
Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far,
but he 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 the base. By the time
Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the
ball ... The smallest guy on their team who now had his first
chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the
ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the
pitcher's intentions so 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 because the opposing shortstop ran to
help him by turning 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 the
spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! 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. He 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 sending messages about life
choices, people hesitate. 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 in your address
book who 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 those
opportunities 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. Delete


2. Forward


May your day, be a Shay Day