The Starfish Story

I have to admit, the starfish story is pretty cheesy, but the man who told it to me is the motivation for this blog (maybe I should have called it 'Jym'?). A group of young adults from my church, Mount Olivet UMC, went down to Petersburg, VA in May to work with an organization called Petersburg Urban Ministries. We were gutting an old Safeway that is going to be their new offices (anyone with some spare change? Send it to PUM -- they are good people doing amazing work for low-income teens and young adults in Petersburg, VA. Their new center will have child care so the youth in their program can work and go to school w/o worrying about their kids; physical and mental health care facilities for the folks who come; a cafe so folks get a hot meal. It is truly beautiful, and could absolutely use more money!).

A core of PUM's mission is to run the local YouthBuild -- a national program that allows youth from 16-24 to work toward their GED while learning job skills by building houses that are sold below market value to low-income home buyers. Participants in YouthBuild also learn interviewing skills, nutrition, interpersonal skills, all the sorts of things young adults need to survive in the workforce.

One of the construction managers from YouthBuild, Jym, stayed with us at the old Safeway to oversee our efforts and make sure we didn't hurt ourselves (We tore down every internal wall in the place!). One day at lunch, one of the women with us asked Jym why he works for YouthBuild. He's an accomplished carpenter and could make really good money in construction (I'll say it one more time: PUM is incredible, but they are poor! Have an extra $10? Send it their way). Jym answered by telling the starfish story:

A man was walking down the beach one day and came across a stretch that was littered with starfish. They had swept ashore at the last high tide and were now stuck. He saw a woman flinging them back into the ocean, and gently informed her that her efforts were futile – there were too many starfish for her to save them all. The woman reached down, picked up a starfish, looked him in the eye, and said, "Tell it to that starfish" as she tossed it back into the water. Then she picked up another starfish, chucked it in, and said, "tell it to that starfish."

Jym said something I believe in my heart but find very hard to live: We can't solve all the world's problems, but that's no excuse not to do what we can. He knows he won't help every poor kid in Petersburg, VA make a good life for themselves, but he can help some. He just has to do it. That's what we're going to talk about here -- how do we live lives of service to each other without succumbing to the defeatist notion that what we're doing can never be enough?

Have any thoughts you'd like to share? Post them as comments, or send them to becky at thatstarfish.com.

And hey, Jonas? Thanks.

All the best!