God’s Plan
At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves
learning-disabled children, the father of one of the
school's 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:
"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 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 stand.
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.
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 up to the plate 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 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 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 his
deliriously bcircled 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!"
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."
