The Starfish and the Grasshopper

Not long ago we had a visiting priest from Ireland, Eamonn Fitzgibbons. Eamonn seems to have found a home in our little community of Alpine. This represents his 3rd summer vacationing and substituting for Fr. Hal Tindall. I’ve come to pay close attention to Eamonn’s sermons as they have been known to bring about life changing reactions. For example last year, during his first sermon of the summer, a man in the back of the church fell over dead. There are those that don’t attribute the power of his sermon to the demise of the parishioner but I’m not totally convinced.

As a result I pay attention to what he has to say. A few Sundays ago he told a story of a young boy who was walking along the beach. A beach that was covered with starfish. It seems that on this particular beach the starfish wash up onto the shore and almost certainly die as the sun dries them out. Well, this young boy did not like the idea of all these starfish dying, so he began to pick them up one by one and throw them back into the ocean.

There happened to be an older man walking by and he stopped to watch the boy and see what he was up to. After a short time he walked up to the boy and asked what he was trying to do. The young boy answered, "I’m trying to save their lives." The old man smiled and said, "Son, what you’re trying to do won’t make a bit of difference, there are thousands of starfish on the beach. You could throw them back all night and it wouldn’t make the slightest difference." The young boy smiled, picked up a starfish and threw it back into the ocean saying, "It makes a big difference to that one."

What a marvelous message that is on the importance of the individual to make a difference. One person in their own way can change the outcome, perhaps not for everybody, but certainly for somebody. As I’ve said many times, it’s the small things, the seemingly inconsequential actions, that cause ripple effects, and in the long run produce more positive successes than we can ever imagine.

As a side note, it was less than a week after Eamonn’s sermon when I happened to be in Baltimore Maryland. I went for my walk out along a highway and I saw a young boy jumping up and down in a field off the side of the road. I walked down toward him to see what he was doing. When I got up close to him I asked, "Son, what are you doing jumping up and down like that?" He looked up startled and asked, "What?" "I asked what you were doing jumping up and down in the middle of this field. I was wondering if you were all right." "Oh yeah mister, I’m fine. Do you see all the grasshoppers around here?" I smiled and said, "Yes, there must be thousands." "Tens of thousands", the boy responded, "Maybe hundreds of thousands!" he added. "My dad told me that grasshoppers are bad, that they destroy plants and crops, so I’m jumping up and down on them to kill them".  

Now I was shocked because I’m one of these people that doesn’t like killing anything, I catch bugs in the house and let them go outside. So I said to this young boy, "Do you think it’s right to kill all these grasshoppers?" "Well my dad says they're no good." "But there are thousands..." I said, "What you’re doing won’t make a bit of difference". And so help me, the boy looked up, smiled, and jumped up and then down onto a grasshopper and then said, "It makes a big difference to that one!"

The moral of this story: stay out of Maryland if you're a grasshopper.

Here we have two similar stories, two young boys both doing what they believe to be right. Both following their hearts and belief systems. One causing death and one providing life. Which one is right, which one is wrong. Maybe they’re both right or maybe they’re both wrong. What do you think?

As a society we are faced with these situations everyday. Do we take a life in order to save others? Or do we, at all costs, work to save lives?

A recent example is the case of the anti-abortionist who believed so strongly in the right to life of the unborn that he took the life of a doctor who was performing abortions. I suggest that this man, the anti-abortionist, was a little like our young boy with the grasshoppers. He got so caught up in doing what he thought to be right that he lost site of the underling truth....What I believe to be the message of Jesus...That life is sacred, all life. That the true power to give and take life belongs to God.

We all effect each other in many small ways. Everyone, no matter their station or position, will, in their life, effect others. We can choose to effect those around us in a positive manner or in a negative manner. My advice is from scripture, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Remember it is not our job to judge, I believe it is our job to be a positive influence on those around us. To treat all people as equals, as the beloved children of God that they are. Final judgment is in the hands of the Almighty. There is no reason for any of us to wrestle with that burden.

I read a story recently about a man who died and went to Heaven. When he arrived at Heaven, St. Peter welcomed him and ushered him in. To his surprise many people he knew from earth came up to greet him. He thought to himself, "Now wait a minute, what’s he doing here, and what’s she doing here, I didn’t think they lived the right kind of life. I didn’t think they were worthy." Then all of a sudden he became very sad. He realized they were all looking at him and wondering how he ever made it to Heaven.

Don’t judge other people and always strive to help one another. If you see a person that’s down, pick them up. You may be surprised just how far a smile and a heartfelt compliment will go. You might think you can’t make a difference, but you can, at least you can make a big difference to that one.

Respectfully in Christ,

Mark Price