At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled
children,
the father of one of the school's students delivered
a speech. 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 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 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."
Reported by Professor Al Hiebert, Briercrest, (ahiebert@briercrest.ca)