starfish

I spent the morning in the sound studio listening to the Operation Breakthrough “success story” interviews. It’s moving to hear about the rescue of this or that particular child and inspiring to think that we each are capable of doing something so good for someone else that it can turn his/her life around. It made me remember a story our rabbi told a few years ago during one of his sermons. You may have already heard a similar tale, but I believe it’s worth considering again and again.

- A kid is walking along a beach that is absolutely covered with starfish. They have been washed ashore by a bad storm, and apparently, starfish can’t survive for very long out of the water. This kid knows it and stoops to pick up one of the starfish. She then tosses it back into the ocean and proceeds to pick up another. A man walks by and asks what in the world she is doing. “I’m throwing them back so they can live,” she explained. “But you can’t possibly really make a difference here!” the man responded as he motioned towards the thousands of starfish that lay at their feet. “Oh, but look,” the girl called out as she threw back another of the little creatures… “I just made a difference in the life of THAT one!”