Don’t lose sight of the starfish

There is a story about a little boy who was on the beach with his dad. They were building sandcastles, playing games, collecting shells and having fun on the beach when all of a sudden they spotted something—a huge, bright red starfish floating in the water just near the shore.

The little boy lit up. So, his dad encouraged him: “Go on, it’s yours! Go get it!” The boy ran about halfway into the water, stopped, turned around and came back. Again the dad said, “Go on, go get it!” and he ran back into the sea back towards the starfish, going a bit further, then returning again.

This happened once more and the dad asked: “What’s going on? Why don’t you go and get it?” The little boy looked up, stopped moving, and said desperately: “Dad, I can’t. My hands are full of shells!”

We are like that too with our lives. Sometimes we spot the great things which God has for us, the starfish in the sea, and we run towards them, only to realise that we can’t receive the blessings because our hands are full of shells. We’re holding on to the mess and stuff in our lives that won’t satisfy us fully. We have to let go of all the things in our lives that are holding us back and have hands that are empty and open, so that we can receive the amazing things God has for us.

I had the blessing recently of being a part of a parish youth night run by a confirmation group in Durban who have heard the message that God has something greater for us all. They’ve been invested in over the last four years—believed in, encouraged, supported, inspired—and they’ve taken this message to heart. They’ve let go of some of their shells for something greater, for the message of truth, for a relationship with Christ.

They’ve touched the starfish of a life of faith and they know they’re made for more. And now they’re on fire to share it with others.

Young people in our Church today want to be believed in. They want hope. They want truth and they want to be trusted. This group has had that. They’ve had the love of Christ shown to them in their youth group and now they’re willing to do many “small things with great love” as St Thérèse tried to do, by loving others in the small ways and getting involved in their parish.

God is working in our Church and he is renewing our youth groups. There is a reason and a point for serving in the ministries in our parish. There is a reason for giving up time on a Friday (or whatever) night to be present to teens at our youth groups. God is changing lives.

Are we holding on to shells in our own lives which are keeping us back from the “more” God has for us? Are we believing in and investing in our young people—getting to know them and walking with them in faith, telling them about the more? Are we trusting and believing in them so that they can get involved and share what faith they do have?

Steven Edwards is a young Catholic from Durban and a hopeful future teacher. Recently returned from being a missionary in the United States, he is involved with youth ministry in his archdiocese.