Friends & Family,  My cousin sent this to me today and I know it touched me. How would our children react to this situation?  I pray they would do the same. I pray this is what we are teaching them, love and humanity.  
 
Subject: FW: Food For Thought

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 followingstory:

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 h! im 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 a! ren'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?





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