A mid-westerner was vacationing on the New England coast. One morning, very early, she was walking along the beach — the sun was still below the horizon, the rain had ended, the sea was calm, and a rainbow bridged the blue Atlantic with the green shoreline. While enjoying the beauty about her, she glanced down the beach and saw a lone figure of a young man silhouetted against the sea. He skipped and frolicked as if performing a ritual dance to celebrate the dawn. Fascinated, she moved closer. As she approached, she realized the young man was not dancing — he was, with graceful and joyous movements, picking up objects and tossing them into the sea. Soon she realized the objects were starfish.

“Why are you throwing starfish into the sea?”

“The tide is going out and if they are still here when the sun rises, they will die.” And without breaking his rhythm he continued tossing them out to sea.

“That’s ridiculous! There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. You can’t really believe that what you are doing could possibly make a difference!”

He smiled, bent over and picked up another starfish, paused thoughtfully, and remarked as he tossed it into the waves… “It makes a difference to this one.”

Most of you who read this never knew Lewie. He wasn’t famous worldwide. I suppose he wasn’t known much outside of this small county here in North Carolina. But to those whose lives were touched by him, he made a tremendous difference through his love for God and his service to others. He will be deeply missed.

What difference does your small deed of kindness make? Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40, NKJV).

You can’t change the world! Or can you? Perhaps not all at once. But you can change it one piece at a time by making a difference in somebody’s life.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith