At a school fund-raising dinner in
Brooklyn, the father of a learning-disabled child delivered a speech
that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After praising 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 question.
"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 centerfield.
In the bottom of the eight 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 time 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 up few steps to lob the ball in softly
so Shaya should at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came and Shaya swung
clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's teammates 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 teammate
swung at the ball 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. And Shaya played a part in it."
