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Starfish Galore

The Mt. Hope Scrolls

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Wow! The beach is covered with starfish. Don’t know the reason for this. There are hundreds, no thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of starfish washing up on the beach. If you think this is an exaggeration, you can start counting. They were everywhere on the beach this afternoon. It could be some strange tide or astrological event or some of those peculiar events that cause this to happen. Don’t know what it is but it is a neat occurrence.

Lots of vacationers were on the beach marveling at the starfish. What can be more relaxing than picking up shells by the ocean? Getting the added bonus of starfish around makes for a pleasant day.

Well, we have to tell the starfish story now. You know the one I’m talking about. A beach is covered with starfish much like here at Garden City. A woman was walking along to beach picking up starfish and throwing them back in the ocean. Someone asked her why she was picking up the starfish. She replied that the starfish would die if they stayed on the shore. She was reminded that there were thousands of starfish and she would only be able to throw back a few. What difference would it make? She told the observer that here efforts would only help a few of the starfish but it would be everything to the ones she threw back.

That is a good story and it certainly illustrates that even the smallest act of kindness can be wonderful. Even faced with an insurmountable task we should continue to try and be helpful. 

I even picked up some of the starfish. I looked at their little legs or feelers or whatever was on the bottom and even threw some of them back in the water. I didn’t throw many back though. Some people were asking what would happen to the starfish if they were stranded on the beach? Of course, they would die and maybe be eaten by birds or crabs. It sounded like a sad end by it was just the never-ending cycle of sea life.

Every day the tide goes in and out and deposits all manner of shells on the beach. All these shells once held living creatures. Different fish and other things are washed up on the beach. They are eaten or recycled in some way... Nature does this every day.

Some people seemed sad for the starfish but it was just the regular cycle of life. Each day things are born and things die. It’s that way with everything. People are born each day and people die each day. Animals and plants change every day as the weather, tides, and life cycles move along. After a walk on the beach, the wonder of the world should be apparent to us. This beautiful creation called earth changes and continues to inspire and do acts of kindness no matter how small or how insignificant the act seems. 

Also, we should remember that even our best intentions many times will fall short. The starfish will live out their life cycle in one way or another. In the morning a different tide will bring in different shells or animals and wash out others. It will also remind us that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously.