November 29, 2024: DO WHAT YOU CAN!


There's a story about two monks who, during one of their routine early morning walks at the beach, noticed that thousands of starfish had beached themselves. As they continued walking along, the older of the two kept occasionally picking up a starfish and tossing it back into the ocean. After about the 10th time he did this, the younger monk said him "There are too many of them for you to make a difference.” Undeterred, the older monk picked up another starfish and threw it back into the water. He then turned to the younger monk and said "I just made a difference for that one. There's a lesson in that story. Even though we may not be able to help everyone, there are times when we can be a blessing to someone. Each time we help just one, we are potentially making a huge difference for that person and others whose lives are impacted by that person's situation. We should make a difference whenever and wherever we can in the lives of whomever we can. We should not allow the obvious futility of trying to help everyone keep us from assisting those we can. Love truly is a verb; it requires action, not just words. One last thought: however well off or healthy or intellectually gifted we turned out to be, in most cases, who our parents are or were is a significant determinant of where we are in life today. And the last time I checked, we didn't get to pick our parents. So, a major part of how we turned out is not predicated on anything we had control of. During this season of Thanksgiving, if we have turned out okay, thankful is what we should be. But for the grace of God, we could have been the person who needs our help. Something to ponder…

© 2024 Detroit Flanagan
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Detroit Flanagan

Octogenarian Shares a Lifetime of Learning.

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December 2, 2024: GOAL-REACHING!

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November 27, 2024: Believe in Your Dreams