| Two Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fund raising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the 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: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature 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 the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other 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'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're 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 in to bat in the ninth inning."
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. 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 and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat 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, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least 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 towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all th e Way Shay"
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won 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 true love and humanity into this world".
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day! it's not the first time i'm reading this story, but it is a reminder that many a times i've been selfish. winning and gaining become my goal and all those around are forsaken. i am a vision-oriented person. and many things are done to achieve that vision. i keep telling myself that people are important, but my actions just don't match. like today, a coursemate wanted to eat something which i had. and i just didn't wanna offer her that, coz i wanted it for myself. felt quite bad. another person wanted to borrow my car, but i didn't dare let him have it. are my actions justified? have i been a bad testimony in some way? i've been settling down and things are ok. did get stressed until i got a headache on monday coz exams are coming up in less than a weeks time on the 19th and 20th. everybody's studying like mad but still i take my day off today. just wanna take a rest. life here is hectic and much is expected from the first years. studies are tough and there are some crazy coursemates of mine who know all or most our lecture topics from top to toe. i'm not like them. i pick up very slowly, taking a long time to digest. at times i can't catch up and don't understand. the good thing is that they're willing to teach me. keep in mind that i'm in the midst of straight A (4.00) STPMers. they are above my head... still trying to find a balance between studies and God. there are needs in this campus. i know that evangelical and discipleship bible studies need to be conducted. but there are insufficient workers and insufficient time in our busy schedules. we can't be attending or conducting 3-4 bible studies in a week. pray for wisdom and guidance to determine which is the priority. pray that God will send people into the harvest field, "for the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." pray too for disciplers- that there will be people willing to disciple others. pray that the cf will grow in number as well as in passion for God. sometimes i wonder whether i'm giving enough attention to my studies. when others are busy studying for their exams, i take a day off and call it my Sabbath. i take a break when i feel too tired to study. i don't force myself. i take time to pray about things in uni... and go for games every other evening. there are days when i just cannot study. i wonder whether i'm merely giving myself excuses. maybe, maybe not. just pray for concentration in my studies as i approach my exam. these few days are crucial days. pray for the mood to study as well. very important. i do enjoy my studies, but it's indeed very demanding. i really miss the people back at YF, of all people. i've been with you guys for 7 years, and now it strikes me that i'm no longer part of that youth group. it strikes me that i won't be attending that church until another 7 years or more. no longer going to gain encouragement from people back there. no longer going to hear the wonderful musicians playing. no longer going to see the younger ones grow up to love God. i do have holidays between my study years in may or so, but that's gonna be very different. i've decided to invest my life in the work here, to learn what God wants me to learn and do what God wants me to do. that's where the dilemma of studies and God come in. i desire to serve God here through both my studies and that which is eternal. do pray. i'm on a journey where few walk alongside me. trying to share my vision of discipleship with others, that prayerfully those who are ready will catch the vision. don't wanna waste time. i only have 5 years. only 5. in a mission field, teeming |
