mothers...

My mother does something she calls a thought for the week for the pupils at the school she works at. These are generally religious in nature as she works in a Catholic Primary School. The one she asked me to type this week was a quote from Mother Teresa that I had introduced her to. I will tell you the story now.

A reporter was interviewing Mother Teresa once, and they were discussing te work she did in Calcutta. This reporter was asking her what she did, how she accomplished it, and what she hoped to achieve over all. Mother Teresa explained that she wanted her actions to inspire others and change the way the world treats its 'Poor'. To this the cynical reporter said: But you must realise, what you do is like the tiniest of drops in the ocean!'

In response Mother Teresa smiled at him and said: 'My son, the ocean is made up of tiny drops.'

I think that this is a beautiful way of looking at things. Even if you think what you do for others is a driop in the ocean bear in mind that without your little drop...there would be NO ocean! There are so many ways of saying this. for example I remember another story which I often used as a prayer session when I was working with young people at the Briars:

A succesful business man was enjoying a walk on a beach one morning and was puzzled to see a young girl picking up a stranded Starfish, look at it and throw it back into the surf. The man thought this foolish and decided to teach the Young Girl about how the world works. He walked up to her and said: 'little girl, look beyond your feet and see that there are thousands of Starfish stranded on the beach. You can't possible save them all. What you are doing doesn't matter.'

The young girl picked up another starfish, looked at it, smiled, and tossed it into the ocean. She then looked the business man square in the eyes and said: 'it matters to that one.'

You see, no matter how often we are put down for wanting to help people. No matter how insignnificant it may seem even to ourselves remember: what we do matters to someone.

Remember Schindler: 'To save one life, is to save the world entire.'