A fisherman was walking down the beach just as high tide was rolling out. The tide had washed up thousands of starfish onto the sand, and now, as the waters repealed, the starfish were left to wither away in the hot afternoon sun. As he walked along he noticed an old man picking them up one by one and tossing them back into the ocean. The fisherman laughed to himself, wondering what this man thought he was going to achieve by saving maybe a handful of starfish out of the thousands left stranded on the beach. He approached the man, and asked him that very question. “What are you doing old man, don’t you realize your efforts are futile, you can’t possibly throw back all these starfish, you can’t possibly save them all.” Your right said the man, but I can save this one. And with that, he picked up another starfish and threw it back into the ocean.
The “parable of the starfish” illustrates the incredibly important concept of the “power of one” to do good in the world. For me, it has been a driving force in my studies and work. To wake up each morning confident in the fact that a single human being can achieve great things and create change in the world, in the vein of Ghandi, Paul Farmer, or Joe Mamlin, is an incredible inspiration. And at the same time, knowing that helping one person really does make a difference--a la throwing back one starfish out of a thousand, providing one family in the slums with a mattress and blanket, one child with school fees and a uniform, or one patient with life-saving medicine and treatment--gives me confidence that my efforts, although miniscule in the grand scheme of African poverty or the HIV/AIDS pandemic, are not without effect. The principle holds true not just in Africa, but in all acts of citizenship or social service in which efforts may seem like a drop in the bucket--i.e., donating one pint of blood to the Red Cross, publishing one scientific paper in the vast body of knowledge, making one small donation to a charity, or casting one vote in the upcoming elections. For me at least, there is nothing more peaceful, nothing more affirming, than consciously NOT allowing my ideas and my efforts to be consumed by the sea of vastness which seems to be our world's problems and issues. Last year, I heard George Bush Sr. give a speech at Butler University, and the championing of the individual to make the world a better place was his central premise. We live in a collective society, and if it wasn't for individual efforts, if we didn't help one person or solve one issue at a time, well...where would we be? I've heard too many people use the logic that 'if you can’t help them all, then you can’t help one' and frankly, to use that logic is just plain stupid, if not unconscionable.
(I'm indebted to my new friend Chaz for the starfish parable. I've kept this 'power of one' concept at the forefront of my mind for many years now, but it wasn't until a discussion one evening with Chaz that it was put so eloquently into story form. A future colleague in medicine, he's been in Eldoret a few months now doing some anthropological fieldwork which he'll continue in the fall at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship).
4 comments:
I too am familiar with the story of the starfish.
As I read your posting yesterday, I had tears in my eyes as I finished, and I was left thinking - what can I do?
I don't have an answer today, but I too believe that each of us is responsible for making the world a better place. Every small act of kindness, every smile and hello whether to strangers or friends, every effort to take responsibility for who and what we impact, creates positive energy and hope.
I will continue to give where I can, emotionally, monetarily, intellectually, and hope that with good intention, and a commitment to moving forward, I may also encourage and inspire others to do the same.
If we all tried just a little bit - imagine what we could do!
Glenn
Well the effort is great but it is just a billion first steps. If we each take as many as we can, the world will be a better place.
We are all wanting the best for you and that reaches out to those whom you wish to help
Your story and words so well depict the realization that I have been trying to battle/grasp. As I've decided to try to live an intentional life responding to social injustices, I realize it is a very exhausting and consuming process. There are pieces of me, strongly embedded in me, that react to situations in the Western way as a default when I'm tired, lazy, or emotionally drained. I wonder, "Is it really going to matter to anyone anywhere if I turn the water off while I brush my teeth?" Just simple tasks like that grind on me, and trigger that haunting question "Can I really make a difference?"
A friend of mine shared an encouraging perspective he pulled from the book "The Irresistable revolution" by Shane Claiborne. As he has decided to dedicate his life to serving the urban poor in the States, he has realized that you have to choose your actions based on principle, not on outcome. If you focus on your efforts in terms of the fruits of your actions, you will be sorely disappointed. But if each individual chose to act based simply on the principle of why you are doing it, you can manage to get by without feeling the world on your shoulders. At least that's what I'm working on.
Keep the stories coming Merc, your words continue to pull me to that place, which is what I need.
Hi, Tim, Eric's mom here. Thank you for the work you're doing and for writing so passionately about it. Sometimes I think at the end of the day, it's all we have to offer each other - to witness - and in your case, to record. You have a rare gift as a writer and I hope you will continue - a la Oliver Sacks!
And thank you for being my "human sunrise".
Quoting Alice Walker: "When it is all too much, when the news is so bad meditation itself feels useless, and a single life feels too small a stone to offer on the altar of peace, find a human sunrise. Human sunrises are happening all over the earth, at every moment. People gathering, people working to change the intolerable, people coming in their robes and sandals or in their rags and bare feet, and they are singing, or not, and they are chanting, or not. But they are working to bring peace, light, compassion to the infinitely frightening downhill slide of human life."
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