Making a difference

An old man walking across the beach one morning in the pre-dawn light
came across a young boy picking things up off the beach
and throwing them into the breaking waves.

On closer inspection, the old man could see that the boy
was tossing stranded starfish from the sandy beach,
back into the ocean.

“What on earth are you doing that for?” the old man asked curiously.

Without stopping, the boy replied, “Well, if the starfish
are still on the beach when the sun rises, they’ll die.”

 “But that’s ridiculous, boy,” the old man admonished him.
“There are thousands of miles of beach, and millions of starfish.
No matter how many you manage to throw in,
it’s not going to make any difference.”

“It makes a difference to this one,” the boy replied as he threw
another starfish into the waves.

Not all of us can do great things.
But we can do small things with great love.
~ Mother Teresa