Recently
we were blessed to attend an extraordinary event... a multi media
presentation offered by Dutch graphic designer Janosh. The art that he
creates mirrors many of the crop circles, but as you can see from this
video, he flows the images and holograms and merges them with music.
The sacred geometry that is inherent in these images are powerful
activators. The spiritual experience is transformative.
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 fundraising
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.
How ever, 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 m issed. 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 the 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!