An old gentleman was walking along a beach one morning, the same beach he had walked for years.  This morning however, presented a strange sight; a beautiful, but strange sight.  For on this morning, the tides were unusually low and hundreds of starfish had been washed ashore.   AS the tide returned, it was not high enough to sweep the sea life back to the ocean and as the sun came out, the starfish began to dry out.  As he continued on his morning walk, he happened upon a young boy.  The boy would stoop down, pick up a starfish, examine it in his hand a moment and then chuck the creature into the sea, then, he would stoop down, pick up another and repeat the action.  The young boy kept doing this, kept throwing starfish into the ocean, desperately trying to save them all before they died, drying in the sun.  The old man, in all of his wisdom, approached the young boy with full intention of correcting this foolish behavior.  “Boy,” he scolded “your wasting your time! There are too many starfish, there is no way you can save them all.” As he scolded the boy paused in his actions, pondered the wisdom of the old man, and responded by stooping down yet again to grasp ahold of yet another starfish.  This time, he stared long and hard at the sea creature dying in his hand. After a moment, he looked up until he stared into the eyes of the old man and replied: “You are right, there is no way I can save them all.  But this one,” he looked a the starfish in his hand, “I can save this one.” And he threw it into the ocean.  And as the man continued on his morning walk, he occasionally glanced over his shoulder and admired the young boy as he continued to save more and more starfish, by throwing them into the ocean, one at a time.

When you think of the hurt, the sick, and the wrongful deeds of the world, it is appalling.  IT is overwhelming.  And dealing with the hurt, lost and broken people of the world can certainly take an emotional toll on one’s soul. The world, as a whole, is at a lost.  And quite frankly, it is depressing.  But when one gets down, in the face, of a young, struggling life; One trying to fight for its life, it is not so cumbersome to reach down and help them.  No one can save the world.  But everyone can save a life around them.  And if we all took a little more time to help out others, maybe….just maybe, the world would have a little more hope.

*this story is a fable told to me by my 6th grade Science Camp naturalist and has stuck with me ever since.