Add to the Light

I got this story from Tod's blog...

There is an old story, maybe even apocryphal is told of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, who read in the gospel of Luke, Jesus’ command to give to the poor and care for the needy and asked the same question.

He was so deeply moved that he emptied his bank account, took the money to the poorest section of town and gave it all away in one lavish act. That night he went home and slept soundly, content that he had done well.

The next day he went back to that poor section of town and realized that nothing had changed. His money had been spent but there were still poor people, and many had used his handouts for nothing more than a big night of drinking and debauchery.

So Tolstoy then declared that it was impossible to truly solve the world problems with one big gesture but that from then on he would seek “to add his light to the sum of light in the world.”