There was an older Women that used to walk down a beautiful beach every morning that was close by to her house before work. She would sit by the ocean, do her writing and wonder along the sand.
Early one morning she came to 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 Women noticed a small boy approaching. As the happy Women walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the boy could see that the Women was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer asked the smiling Women “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The kind-hearted Women 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, when the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The young Boy replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really make much of a difference.”
The wise Women with a joyful smile, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she turned with a serious face and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
Then the Boy picked up a starfish and gently threw it into the water!
It was an magical moment for all three. The starfish felt gratitude, the Boy felt the Joy of kindness and Women had passed on the gift of giving to the Boy.
This storey is our daily inspiration at the Spirit in the Sky – we hope you will now throw a starfish with us.
