Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Being Child-like
We have spoken earlier about returning to our child-like state.
The story below, picked from a friend, may suggest what is implied by being child-like.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CHILD-LIKE
In New York is a school that caters to learning for disabled children. Some children remain there for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools. At a fund-raising dinner, the father of a child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the virtues of the school and its dedicated staff, he said, “Everything God does is done to 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. Shay asked, “Do you think they will let me play?” Shay’s father knew that the 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 consent 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.” At 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, griming from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. At 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 chances 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 towards 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, “Those 18 boys reached their level of God’s perfection.”
*******************************
Sarve bhavantih sukhinah ......
See you on 09 Jul 06.
The story below, picked from a friend, may suggest what is implied by being child-like.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CHILD-LIKE
In New York is a school that caters to learning for disabled children. Some children remain there for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools. At a fund-raising dinner, the father of a child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the virtues of the school and its dedicated staff, he said, “Everything God does is done to 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. Shay asked, “Do you think they will let me play?” Shay’s father knew that the 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 consent 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.” At 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, griming from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. At 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 chances 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 towards 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, “Those 18 boys reached their level of God’s perfection.”
*******************************
Sarve bhavantih sukhinah ......
See you on 09 Jul 06.
# posted by Abhay Gupta @ 12:31 AM 
