You have got Two Choices

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 for
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.