第14章 在微尘与浮梁之上 (14)

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爱才能铸就完美

Perfection

佚名 / Anonymous

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 others can be mainstreamed into conventional Jewish 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 Shaya？ 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 Shaya.

One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.

Shaya asked， “Do you think they will let me play？”

Shaya’s father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya’s father understood that if his son were chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shaya’s father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya 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 6 runs and the game is in the 8th inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning.”

Shaya’s father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the 8th inning， Shaya’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by 3. In the bottom of the 9th inning， Shaya’s team scored again and now with 2 outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base， Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game？ Surprisingly， Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly， let alone hit with it. However， as Shaya stepped up to the plate， the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya’s teammates came up to Shaya 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 Shaya. As the pitch came in， Shaya and his teammate swung the bat 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， Shaya 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 the reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling， “Shaya， run to first. Run to first！” Never in his life had Shaya 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 that would tag out Shaya， 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.” Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base， the opposing shortstops ran to him， turned him in the direction of third base and shouted， “Run to third.” As Shaya rounded third， the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming， “Shaya， run home！” Shaya 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.”

查斯是纽约布鲁克林的一所学校，它是专门为有学习障碍的孩子开办的。一部分孩子会在这里完成整个学业，而另一部分孩子会转入常规的犹太学校。一次，在查斯的筹款晚宴上，一位学生家长发表了一篇让现场所有人都难以忘怀的演讲。他首先称赞了学校和尽责的教职工，接着大喊道：“我儿子沙亚什么地方是完美的？上帝所做的一切都是尽善尽美的。其他孩子能够理解事物，而我的孩子却不能，也不能像他们那样牢记生活常识和数字。上帝所谓的完美在哪里？”

这一问，震惊了全场观众。他们深切地感受到这位父亲的痛苦，同时如此尖锐的质问也让他们愣住了。

“我认为，”这位父亲自己答道，“当上帝将这样的孩子带到世界上时，人们对这个孩子的态度就是他所寻求的完美。”接着，他讲了以下这个关于沙亚的故事。

一日午后，沙亚和父亲经过公园时，看到沙亚认识的一些男孩正在玩棒球。

沙亚问：“你认为他们会不会让我玩？”

父亲清楚儿子对运动一窍不通，而且多数男孩也不会想让沙亚加入他们的队伍。但他也明白，如果儿子能被接受，那将会给儿子带来快乐的归属感。因此，他走到球场内的一个男孩面前，询问能否让沙亚加入。

男孩环顾四周，想从队友那里得到意见，但没人回应。于是，他决定自己做主，说：“我们现在落后6分，但比赛已经是第8局了。我认为他可以加入我们队，我们会尽量让他第9局上场。”

沙亚的父亲喜出望外，沙亚也露出了灿烂的笑容。男孩们让他戴上手套打中外野手。第8局下半场时，尽管沙亚队赢得了几轮，但依旧落后3分。第9局下半场时，沙亚队又得分了。此时，出局的有两个垒手，满垒还拥有一个垒位打点，那是绝对有希望获胜的。按照计划，轮到沙亚上场了。如此关键的时刻，他们会放弃获胜的希望而让沙亚击球吗？出乎意料的是，他们把球棒递到了沙亚手中。沙亚连如何拿好球棒都不知道，更不用说击球了，因此所有人都明白，胜利是不可能了。当沙亚向垒板走去时，投手移动了几步，放低手，轻轻将球缓慢地投了过来，这样沙亚最起码有可能碰到球。第一次投球过来时，沙亚笨拙地抡了一下球棒，但没有击中。于是，一个队友走过来和沙亚一起握着球棒，面朝投手，等待着第二次投球。投手向前挪了几步，轻轻地将球朝沙亚投过来。球过来时，沙亚和他的队友一起挥动球棒，打出了一个很慢的滚地球。投手接起这个轻柔的滚地球，他本可以轻易地把它传给一垒手，这样沙亚就会出局，比赛也就会结束。