VALUES: Making a difference/contribution; the value of helping one person
STORY: This is a story of a man and a beach.
Peter was walking along a beautiful beach at sunset when he noticed another man a little way ahead. Now this person kept bending over, picking something up and throwing it out into the waves. As they proceeded along the beach, the man in front kept up this behaviour, over and over again. Being very curious, Peter began to walk more quickly and soon caught up with the thrower. To his amazement, he found that the man was picking up the starfish that had been washed ashore. He approached the man and said: “Good evening, sir. I was just wondering what it is that you are doing?”
“ I’m throwing these starfish back into the sea.You see, it’s low tide now and all these starfish have been washed ashore onto the sand, and if I don’t throw them back, they will die from lack of oxygen.”
“ This I understand,” said Peter, “but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach and hundreds and thousands on all the beaches along this coast.You can’t throw them all back. Can’t you see that you cannot possibly make a difference! “
The man smiled, bent over, picked up another starfish, threw it into the waves and said: “I made a difference to that one, didn’t I.”
TEACHING POINT:
A good deed need not be a big thing. It can be a kind word, a smile of encouragement, the sharing of a sandwich. But even the smallest words and actions towards even just one person can make a difference in that person’s life.
School Assembly Stories