Sent from a friend, a co-worker - Andre White:
Where is Gods 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 Gods
perfection?"
The audience was shocked by the question, pained
by the fathers sh 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?" Shays father knew that his son was
not at all athletic and that most boys would not
want him on their team. But Shayas father
understood that if his son was chosen to play it
would give him a comfortable sense of belonging.
Shayas 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 well try to put him up to bat in
the ninth inning." Shayas 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, Shayas team was still behind by
three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shayas
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?
Suprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone
knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya
didnt 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 Shayas 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 teammate swung at 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 to first base looking
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
pitchers intentions were, so he threw the ball
high and far over the third basemans 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 Gods perfection."