I’m sure you’ve heard the stories over the years that are repeated so often and with slight variations such that no one can quite remember how they came to us. These modern-day parables, as I call them, never seem to age. Their truths and moral value are enduring. As I shared breakfast this morning and engaged in conversation with Ps Tony our talk ranged across many different themes. Prominent in all this was the eruption of violence in the middle east, and the upheavals and unrest all around the world including in our own land of Oz with The Voice tensions running high, and so on. And a feeling of the overwhelming weight and tidal undertow of it all suddenly came to me.
What can I do about all this? Where to start? Can I really do anything at all that’s worthwhile? Do I have the energy for it all? You know the kind of thinking, I’m sure.
But I felt a prompting from the Lord and my mind recalled a time back in 1987 when a fellow minister shared a modern-day parable that restored to me some perspective amidst all that seems so overwhelming right now. That parable had stuck in my mind. Now it had arisen from somewhere in my memory banks ….
The story, I discovered today, came from one Loren Eiseley (1907-1977). Eiseley was born, raised, and educated in Nebraska in the United States. He became a highly respected writer and poet best known for explaining complex scientific concepts in poems easily read and understood by the general public. He was a genius in the true sense. His “starfish parable” was originally “The Star Thrower” which is part of 16-page essay called “The Unexpected Universe” published in 1969. The Star Thrower has had many iterations over the years, here is one …
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.” The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
In this world right now we can be so tempted to succumb to the sheer scale of problems and concerns that come at us. They threaten to overwhelm us emotionally and intellectually such that we can be tempted to think, “What’s the point? What difference can I make? Can I really change anything at all?” Well, yes, you can make a difference. The stranded starfish is your neighbour. The starfish is right there in front of you. You can help that one at least, as you pass by, and then another and so on …
No one can change the whole world in one hit. And when the enemy tries to intimidate us into feeling responsible for needing to do so, we know how impossible that is and we can start giving up before we even start.
The Star Thrower had the right perspective. He was doing what he could where and when he could – and he made a difference to many starfish – not millions, maybe, but many. Many is better than none, and neither was he dissuaded by the cynicism of others.
Don’t get overwhelmed. You can make a difference. The bible speaks of us as being the salt of the earth. The right amount of salt at the right time makes a difference right there. We’re also the light of the world. My small light can make a huge difference in my small corner right where I am. A little bit of light dispels so much darkness. Do I have enough salt and light to cover or effect the whole earth? No. None of us do. But together, each one picking up a starfish as we go makes a huge difference.
Matthew 10:42 (ESV)
[Jesus] “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
The starfish is my neighbour.
Think on these things.
Ps Milton
[Sources: Wikipedia; Nebraska University Press; Loren Eiseley Society website.]