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Years ago I was told a lovely story about a Mexican on a beach throwing a stranded starfish back into the sea. A European tourist said to him, slightly peevishly, "Why on earth are you doing that?　 It’s pointless, there are far too many of them to make any difference; the next tide will just bring a whole new lot in".  The Mexican made no reply but simply picked up another starfish, threw it into the water and then said "Well, I made a difference to that one"…

On a Monday morning our own problems and worries, and those of our world, can often seem rather overwhelming, especially when we make the mistake of looking at or thinking about all of them at once.　 When I find myself in that situation I remind myself of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was considered by some to be a little naïve in her approach to the sufferings of those she and her sisters served and continue to serve. But she took the same view as that Mexican man on the beach – by taking one person off the street and tending their wounds and giving them both love and dignity she was "making a difference to that one". Yes, what she did for each person was just a drop in the ocean of alleviating the suffering and difficulties facing humanity – but, as she herself put it, the ocean is no more than a very large collection of drops of water – and in the ocean that is made up of humanity each and every drop matters.　

Lord, as we go about our business today, whatever it may be, help us to be attentive to the ways, however small, in which we too can "make a difference to that one".

Amen