Maybe it's good for us to shed a tear!!!

Subject: : Pause for thanks

-Hi - I try to keep from passing on stuff but this, THIS is great.  It
may bring a tear to your eye,  but  check it out, I think you'll be glad
you did.


       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 other 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, Shay? 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 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 Shay:

       One afternoon, Shay and his father 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 his son was not at all
       athletic and that most boys would not want him on
       their team. But Shay's father understood that if
       his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable

       sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one of
       the boys in the field and asked if Shay 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."

       Shay's father was ecstatic as Shay smiled broadly.
       Shay was told to put on a glove and go out to play
       short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning,
       Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by
       three.

       In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team
       scored again and now with two outs and the basses
       loaded with the potential winning run on base
       Shay was scheduled to be up. 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 it was all but impossible because Shay didn't
       even know how to hold the bat properly, let
       alone hit with it. However, as Shay stepped up to
       the plate, the pitcher moved up a few steps to lob the
       ball in softly so Shay should at least be able to
       make contact.

       The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and
       missed. One of Shay's team-mates came up to Shay
       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 Shay. As the pitch came in,
       Shay 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. 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 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 Shay, 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." Shay
       ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him
       deliriously circled the bases towards home.

       As Shay reached second base, the opposing short stop
       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 ran behind him screaming,
       "Shay run home." Shay 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."

       Funny how this is so true!

       Funny how simple it is for people to trash different ways
       of living and believing and then wonder why the world is
       going to hell.

       Funny how people can send a thousand 'jokes' through
       email and they spread like wildfire, but when one starts
       sending messages regarding life choices, people think
       twice about sharing.

       Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass
       freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of
       morality is too often suppressed in school and the
       workplace.

       Funny how when you go to forward this message (if you
       choose to forward it), you will not send it to many on
       your address list because you're not sure what they
       believe, or what they will think of you for sending it
       to them. Funny how we can be more worried about what other
       people think of us than what we think of ourselves.

       BLESSINGS TO YOU!

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