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 to all of you is:

Would you have made the same choice?

At a fund raising 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 thefollowing 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 inspite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if  Shay could play, not expecting much. 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 put on a team shirt with a broad smile and his Father had 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 '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, recognizing the other team 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 be able to
make contact. The first pitch came an
d 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 it a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over, but 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 head of  the first baseman, 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 ran that far but 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
second base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball, the smallest on their
team, who had a chance to be the hero for his team for
the first time. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions and 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, the opposing shortstop ran to help him and turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from b
oth teams and those watching were on their feet 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.

Shay didn't make it to another summer and 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!


A little footnote..:

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. we pass up that opportunity to brighten the day of those with us the least able, and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

FRIENDSHIP NAILS


There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.


 Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He
discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence....


Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it, and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.


     The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.

The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say, "I'm sorry," the wound is still there."


A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.