Subject: Achieving G-d's Perfection {Insp}
From: Unicorn (unicorn@indenial.com)
Date: Sun Apr 23 2000 - 02:28:55 EDT
"Achieving G-d'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
G-d 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 G-d 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 team-mates.
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 G-d's
perfection."
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