Do you feel that a small deed is of any help to the needy?

Question

A man was crossing the Atlantic by ship. He was terribly seasick and stayed in his cabin. Then one night he heard someone shout "Man overboard." Someone has fallen into the sea in the middle of the night. The man in the cabin felt that there was nothing he could do to help. But he thought: "I can at least put my lantern in the porthole." He struggled to his feet and hung the light so it would shine out into the dark sea.
The next day, he learned that the person was rescued, and heard him say: " I was going down in the dark night for the last time when someone put a light in a porthole. As it shone on my hand, a sailor in a lifeboat grabbed it and pulled me in."

Answer 1

A good deed is a good deed, with none too small, none too big.

When I was a boy scout, we were admonished to "do a good turn daily". It feels good to keep doing good turns. And as they say - - "Once a scout, always a scout".

Answer 2

It depends.

Providing a little, as long as it directed, may result in helping the specific individual or group intended. Typically this help would be limited in scope and duration. Giving money to buy a meal to a beggar will only susbsist him/her for a few hours. That handout will likely not help the beggar at all if she is ill.

The point to remember is that the deed of a small group of people, no matter how noble and concentrated, is, in the greater scheme of things, largely a exercise in futility--if your goal is to, say, eradicate poverty or rampant illnesses.

There are thousands of philantrophists in the country who break their backs to help but the effects of their sacrifice is limited at best, and certainly not sustainable in the mid to long term.

I feel their pain, in all reality the efforts of a few thousand people cannot really be expected to fix what ails millions of people.

The only (and actually very simple) way to really beat the problem is to have more people contribute into a common and well-defined effort to effect a real and sustainable solution to the critically serious endemic problems that plague the country.

That just has not happened yet and the terrible consequences are evident literally everywhere you look in the constant never-ending suffering of millions of people.

Answer 3

of course. it's better than doing nothing at all. such random acts of kindness, no matter how insignificant they may seem to you, make people realize that they are not alone in this lonely world, that no matter how down and out they are, there will always be someone to help them if they just pray and ask for it.

Answer 4

>> the story is indeed very inspiring. it is the kind of stuff that every people should read before they start their day. and not flipping through the center page of the broadsheet to find showbiznews or the latter pages for the sports editorial.

it is somewhat right to just sit,
breathe
and say
"hey, i wanted to do something right today."

Answer 5

That was a nice story! I truly believe all of us had have contributed many things in the society in any ways...

Answer 6

Great story. Just serves to prove that we can all make a difference, no matter how small and unimportant we may believe our selves to be. And thus, no one is really unimportant. :)

Answer 7

a beautiful story by celestine. no matter how small or insignificant we think of ourselves, we all have a purpose in life.

Answer 8

absolutely! wow. that was such a nice story... :)

"little things go a long way."

Answer 9

oh... yeah, i think so... but still depends on the situation...

Answer 10

zzz... reminds me of myself... no matter how drunk i am... or how foolish my questions or how stupid my answers are... at least... i made your day... smiling... hmmm... beer... zzz...