SQUISH
Many of us have heard of the story of the Starfish, but if your haven’t then…
IT ALL STARTED WHEN…
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
“Well, I made a difference for that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
adapted from "The Star Thrower" by Loren C. Eiseley
The starfish were sluggish, the girl was childish and the old man wanted to relinquish the hope for the little girl. She wasn’t selfish and he wasn’t quirkish; they just needed to diminish the number of starfish on the beach so that the starfish could flourish. Eiseley, the author, was able to publish the story and the others who helped the little girl and man got to embellish the tale. So what does it all mean?
There are two messages in this story that we could perhaps use in these days. The first concept is that any act of kindness from the heart is not wasted. Making a positive impact on the world is what we do when we choose to help others and show kindness. The second concept is that regardless of age, anyone can make a difference in this world by the choices we make and the kindness we extend to others, whether that be a smile or shoveling their walk; lending them your time, money or talents; or simply being a listening ear when troubles come our way.
So, my mantra each day that I take from the story is: Never let anyone squish your ish!
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32