A Candle

There was this man who was walking along the beach at low tide when he came to a spot where there were thousands of starfish left on the sand by the receding waves. He was saddened that all of them would die under the noonday sun.

A short distance ahead of him he saw a man wearing a red hat picking up a star fish and throwing it into the water. Every few yards, this man with the red hat stopped, picked up another star fish and threw it into the water.

Finally, the first man hurried up to the one with the red hat and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I am saving the star fish."

"That's silly," replied the first man, "There are so many of them that it really doesn't matter."

With that, the man with the red hat stooped down, picked up another star fish, threw it in the water and said, "To that one it matters."

That story reinforces the words of Dr. Thomas Anthony Dooley, which he so beautifully expressed in his book, *The Night They Burned the Mountain*. Dr. Dooley said, "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."

cheers,
BobbyWan