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| God's
Perfection |
In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters
to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in
Chush for their entire school career, while others can
be main-streamed into conventional schools.
At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush
child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten
by all who attended. After extolling 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 query.
"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 center field.
In the bottom of the eighth 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 juncture
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 few steps to lob the ball in softly
so Shaya should at least be able to make contact. The
first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed.
One of Shaya's team-mates 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 team-mate swung the bat 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."
-- Unknown |
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