At a school
fund-raising dinner in Brooklyn, the father of a
learning-disabled child delivered a speech that would never be
forgotten by all who attended.
After praising
the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out "Where is
the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with
perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other
children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other
children do. Where is God's perfection?"
The audience
was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and
stilled by the piercing question.
"I
believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a
child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is
in the way people react to this child."
He then told
the following story about his son Shaya:
One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park where
some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked,
"Do you think they will let me play?"
Shaya's father
knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys
would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood
that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a
comfortable sense of belonging.
Shaya's father
approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya 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."
Shaya's
father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya
was told to put on a glove and go out to play short centerfield.
In the bottom
of the eight inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was
still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning,
Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases
loaded with the potential winning run on base. Shaya was
scheduled to be up.
Would the team
actually let Shaya bat at this time and give away their chance
to win the game? Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone
knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even
know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it.
However as
Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a up few
steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able
to make contact.
The first pitch
came and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's
teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and
faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again
took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya.
As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the ball
and together they 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. Shaya 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,
"Shaya, run to first. Run to first."
Never in his
life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline
wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the
right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the
second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running.
But the right
fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he
threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.
Everyone
yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran
towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously
circled the bases towards home.
As Shaya
reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him, turned
him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to
third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams
ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home!"
Shaya ran home,
stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their
shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a
"grand slam" and won the game for his team.
"That
day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down
his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's
perfection. And Shaya played a part in it."
Author Unknown
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