Recently I listened to some recorded sermons. In one of them was the classic Starfish Parable. If you are not familiar with this it is the story of a child who comes upon thousands and thousands of starfish stranded on the beach after a storm. They are dying. The child begins to carefully pick up one at a time and throw them back into the ocean.
After a time, an adult comes upon the child and asks what he is doing. The child explains that he is saving the starfish. The adult tells him that he is foolish and wasting his time. There are too many and you cannot make a difference. The child picks up another starfish and throws it into the ocean, then he tells the adult that he made a difference to that one.
The point is obvious. We can make a difference to the people God puts into our lives. It does not need to be a grand gesture; in fact, it is likely to be a small thing. A smile, a wave, an offer of help to someone needing assistance. It may be playing a small part in a larger project. It may be telling someone who has never really heard before that God loves them just the way He made them. I think of this parable every time I am blessed to help at the food pantry at church. Are we solving world hunger, no. Did we make a difference to that one who just left with a bit more food than they had before? Yes!
So, go out and tilt at some windmills, be that kid on the beach seeing thousands that need help. Do not become paralyzed at the daunting prospect of so many that need help. Instead, go out and make a difference to that one. That’s how you really change the world, one act of love, forgiveness and service at a time.
Praise Be to God
