Do you remember the age-old story
about the starfish? As told to me as a child, a young girl was walking along
the beach with her grandfather when they happened upon thousands of starfish
left behind with the tide. When Grandpa picked up one to fling back into the
waves, the girl did the same. One by one another they returned the creatures to
the sea before the scorching summer sun killed them. After a while the child
peered up and wailed, “This is hopeless! There’re only two of us and thousands
of them. What difference can we make?”
The sage grandfather pulled
another starfish from the sand, its glistening surface almost completely dry,
and flung it as far as he could into the surf. “You’re right. We can’t save
them all, but I’m sure we made a difference to that one.”
That story has stayed with me my
entire life, the concept returning in various applications: I recycle my water
bottle instead of adding to a receptacle overflowing with plastic. I attempt to
purchase green cleaning supplies and recycled paper products despite the
plethora on the shelves. Americans are continually challenged to do the right
thing ecologically…or as Christians. In the modern world it’s tough to walk the
narrow path with every thought, word, and deed. How about the Bible’s command
to introduce the saving power of Christ to non-believers? With the world’s
population only thirty-three percent Christian, how can a humble fiction writer
from Ohio have any impact whatsoever? But perhaps like the starfish dying in
the sand, it might make all the difference in the world to the few I do reach. Each
journey must begin with a single step, whether we’re reducing waste, helping
the sick, or introducing a reader to the positive influence of Christian
fiction.
Mary Ellis has written twenty-one
novels. Her debut book, A Widow’s Hope, was
nominated for a 2010 Carol Award. Living in Harmony, won the 2012 Lime
Award for Excellence in Amish Fiction while Love Comes to Paradise
won the 2013 Lime Award. She is currently writing Secrets of the South Mysteries. Book one, Midnight on the Mississippi,
was a finalist for the RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice
Award, and finalist for Daphne Du Maurier for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.
Book two, What Happened on Beale Street, won the Judge a Book by its Cover for Inspirational Romance. Her current
book is Sunset in Old Savannah. www.maryellis.net
or www.facebook.com/Mary-Ellis/Author
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