Early one morning while on vacation at the beach, I walked barefoot to the water’s edge to watch the waves gently lap upon the sand. Slowly, I inched forward until the water was ankle deep and when the waves rolled in, the ocean was up to my knees. My eyes moved from the water around me to the vast horizon of what seemed like miles of unending ocean. “Thank you, Father, for another beautiful day to enjoy your creation. You created all of this – the sky and this gorgeous sunrise, the sandy beach, and this vast ocean and every single thing living in it. You are so amazing! Help me to be more grateful. Help me see others through your eyes. Help me make a difference, big or small. Use me today, Father.”
Suddenly I noticed I was not alone. Down the beach, I saw a human figure moving like a dancer. I smiled to myself at the thought of someone so uninhibited welcome the dawn with unrestrained joy. I walked faster to get a better look.
As I got closer, I noticed that the figure was that of a young man and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the sand, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.
I called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man in his early 20’s paused, looked up, and replied “These starfish were abandoned by the tide. I’m throwing them back into the ocean.”
“I see. And just why are you doing that?”
The young man solemnly replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back into the water, they’ll die.”
“But there are so many of them all up and down the beach. You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The young man looked me in the eye, shrugged his shoulders, bent down again, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “It made a difference for that one.”
For the next hour, I joined in the dance. Bending down, picking up a starfish, and tossing it into the ocean. All the while thinking about how a great God who created the vastness of the universe knows not only when each little sparrow falls or each starfish is stranded on the sand, He also knows me. He knows each time I fall, each time I feel abandoned – and, He cares!
“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The Lord reigns forever!”
Psalm 146: 5-10
(The original Starfish story, as far as I know, was written by Loren Eisley. We used a version of this story in our seminars and workshops to demonstrate the choice each person has to make a difference. The above is yet another version.)