The Spark of the Divine
Anonymous (submitted via email)
At a fundraising 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, has 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 the father understood that 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 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."
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
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. 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 in softly
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 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 him deliriously circled 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!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were 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."
We all have thousands of opportunities a day to help realize God's plan. So many
seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice, do
we pass along a spark of the Divine? Or do we pass up that opportunity and
leave the world a bit colder in the process?
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