Imagine … you are a little boy or girl. You are trying to
keep up with kids around you, but you can’t. Other kids are teasing you or
bullying you because you have a disability.
Why is
the world so imperfect? Why are there, people with severe disabilities like
Down syndrome, blindness and deafness to name but a few?
Young
Frankie sustained brain damage at birth. He also had a tracheostomy tube to
help him breathe.
He badly
wanted to play softball with the other boys at school. Because of his motor
coordination difficulties Frankie could not really play with the other boys.
But it
meant a lot to him, and we asked the boys if they would like to include them in
their team.
The boys
hesitated for a moment before saying yes. The fact that their team was losing made
the decision easier. Nothing Frankie could do was likely to affect the outcome
anyway. Frankie was given a mitt, and went to stand in short centre field as
his team's tenth player.
Frankie’s
turn came. Frankie was handed a bat and pointed to the plate.
What
happened next was nothing short of amazing.
The
opposing team saw that Frankie couldn’t even
begin to play, and the pitcher moved closer to him and pitched the ball in a
way Frankie could have a chance to hit it.
He missed
the ball. One of Frankie’s team mates then came to help him hold the bat to
help him hit. And he hit the second ball just a little way.
The
pitcher then pitched the ball way to the right. Frankie’s teammates yelled:
“Run Frankie! Run to first!” Two of his teammates started running with him to
help him and to cheer him on.
A player
on the opposing team tracked the ball, and then intentionally threw the ball
out to the other direction. By this time, both teams were chanting “Run,
Frankie, run!” Frankie reached second base.
Ball
forgotten, all players from both teams joined Frankie on his triumphal run
home, and together they hoisted the hero onto their shoulders. Frankie was
beaming.
This is
why the world is imperfect: To give us the chance to achieve spiritual
perfection. All the boys achieved spiritual perfection that day in accepting
someone who isn’t like them and who would normally never have a chance to play
in a softball game. If it wasn’t for Frankie, they never would have.
