> Greetings all - Most readers have probably seen this before. I had not - my > daughter sent it to me, her mum and a couple of friends, - I figure if she > cared enough to read it and send it on, then, I am not going to delete. But > I will add a comment. > I am a few over fifty years old and grew up in rural Australia, we all > bemoan the passing of the good old days and prattle on about how the world > is going to the dogs etcetera, but I can tell you all that this story > following would be a lot more likely to happen among my childrens generation > as they were growing up, than it would have been among mine. Anybody else > care to comment.? > Cheers > Lloyd Charles > > Subject: Fw: A definitely good forward! > Read the following - it's a wonderful thing to do and we should all do > something like this in our life - i.e. > give happiness to others > I know you are all the "appropriate " type of people who would appreciate > the beauty in this story. 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 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 > feeling 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 in 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 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 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 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 that opportunity, and leave the world a > little bit colder in the > process? You now have two choices: 1. Delete this. 2. Forward it to the > people you care about. > _______________________________________________ BDNow mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can unsubscribe or change your options at: http://lists.envirolink.org/mailman/listinfo/bdnow
