10/03/2025
At a party organized at a school for children with special needs, the father of a student delivered an emotional speech that will never be forgotten by those who heard it.
After congratulating the school and all those who worked there, this father made the following reasoning: "When there are no external agents interfering with nature, the natural order of things reaches perfection." "But my son, Herbert, cannot learn like other children do. He cannot understand things like other children. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stunned by the question. The father of the child continued: "I believe that when a child like Herbert, physically and mentally disabled, comes into the world, an opportunity to see human nature arises, and it manifests in the way other people treat that child."
He then told a story about one day when he was walking with his son Herbert near a park where some children were playing baseball. Herbert asked his father: -"Dad, do you think they'll let me play?"
His father knew that most of the children wouldn't like it if someone like Herbert played on their team, but the father also understood that if they allowed his son to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and the confidence of being accepted by others despite his special abilities.
The father approached one of the children playing and asked (without expecting much) if Herbert could play. The child looked around for someone to advise him and said: "We’re losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can join our team and we’ll try to put him at bat in the ninth inning."
Herbert slowly made his way to the bench with a big smile, put on the team’s jersey, and his father watched him with tears in his eyes from the emotion.
While Herbert sat among the players waiting for his turn, his father kept watching. The other kids noticed something very evident: the happiness of the father when his son was accepted.
At the end of the eighth inning, Herbert’s team managed to score a few runs, but they were still trailing by three runs. At the start of the ninth inning, Herbert put on a glove and played in right field. Although no ball came to Herbert, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, smiling from ear to ear while his father cheered from the stands.
At the end of the ninth inning, Herbert’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the chance to win the game was a possibility, and Herbert was the next to bat.
With this opportunity, would they let Herbert bat and give up the chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Herbert was allowed to bat. Everyone knew that a single hit was impossible because Herbert didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less hit the ball.
However, as Herbert stood at the plate, the pitcher realized that the other team was willing to lose to give Herbert a great moment in his life. He stepped forward and threw the ball very softly so Herbert could at least make contact with it.
The first pitch came, and Herbert swung awkwardly and missed. The pitcher stepped forward again, throwing the ball softly toward the batter. This time, Herbert swung and hit the ball so gently that it fell right in front of the pitcher.
The game could have ended there. The pitcher could have picked up the ball and thrown it to first base. Herbert would have been out, and that would have been the end of the game. But, the pitcher threw the ball high over the head of the first baseman, out of reach of the rest of his teammates.
Everyone in the stands and both teams began shouting, "Herbert, run to first base, run to first!" Never in his life had Herbert run that distance, but he made it to first base. He ran right along the line, his eyes wide open, startled. Everyone shouted, "Run to second, run to second!"
Herbert, catching his breath, ran with difficulty to second base. By the time he reached second, the right fielder had the ball. He was the smallest boy on the team and knew he had the chance to be the hero of the day. He only had to throw the ball to second base, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions and threw it too high, over the head of the third baseman.
Herbert ran to third base, while the runners ahead of him circled home. When Herbert reached third base, the children from both teams and the spectators were all standing, shouting, "Run to home, run to home!" Herbert ran to home plate, stood on the base with his arms up in triumph, smiling widely, looking at his father... while, strangely, the players from both teams cheered and hugged him like the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
"That day," the father said, with tears running down his face, "the children from both teams conspired, giving this world a display of true love and humanity."
Herbert didn’t survive another summer. He passed away that winter, never forgetting that he had been the hero and made his father very happy, having gone home to see his mother crying with joy, hugging her hero of the day!
A LITTLE NOTE FOR THIS MESSAGE:
We all send hundreds of jokes via email without a second thought, but when a message about the wonderful lessons life teaches us arrives, people hesitate.
If you’re thinking about forwarding this message, maybe you’re considering which people in your contact list are the 'right' ones for this kind of message. Well, the person who sent this to you believes that together we can make a difference, and therefore everyone is eligible to receive it. We have thousands of opportunities each day to help bring about "the natural order of things," this is just one of them.
A wise person once said,
“Every society will be judged by how it treats the least fortunate."
