The Star Thrower

Once upon a time, there was a wise man, much like Eiseley himself, who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had the habit of walking along the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore; as he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day, so he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead, he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing Starfish into the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked; why are you throwing Starfish into the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and Starfish all along it, you can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely, then bent down, picked up another Starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves. "It made a difference for that one."

(Taken and adapted from starthrower.com. Click link for complete version.)

Have we made a difference? Will we make a difference? To that one person out there. To that one life out there. Today's message really stirred up our hearts greatly. Once again, we are being reminded of how it was meant to be. In a world with widening income gap and wealth disparity, we do not want widening spirit gap and love disparity. We are to bring God's presence into the streets. We "put skin" on God, as Pastor Tan so aptly put it. When people look at us and our lives, what do they see? Do they see God in us?

Let us each find our starfish to throw. Let us once again, have a passion of compassion for a world without vision.