---------------------- Forwarded by Andrea Ring/HOU/ECT on 05/02/2001 03:46 PM ---------------------------
From:	Michele Winckowski/ENRON@enronXgate on 04/04/2001 03:17 PM
To:	Maria Salazar/OTS/Enron@ENRON, Teb Lokey/ENRON@enronXgate, Andrea Ring/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:	 
Subject:	FW: weepy


Choices
>
> At a fund-raising 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 who 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 in 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 most boys would not want him on their team. But the father
> 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
> 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 too often suppressed in school and the workplace.
> If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably thinking
> about which people on your address list aren't the "appropriate" ones to
> receive this type of message.
>
> The person who sent this to you believes that we can all make a difference.
> We all have thousands of opportunities a day to help realize God's plan.  So
> many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a
> choice: Do we pass along a spark of the Divine?  Or do we pass up that
> opportunity, and leave the world a bit colder in the process?
>
> You have two choices now:
>
> 1. Delete this.
>
> 2. Forward it to the people you care about.
>
> You know the choice I made.