I bought a growing starfish from one of the dollar stores a while back. I thought it might be a good little gift. I thought of the Starfish Story that has been online for years. I shared the story with our children during church. I taught the golden rule, to treat others as you would have them treat you. I had a bucket of water to put the starfish into. Boy were the kids excited to see it touch the water and go “POOF”, grow instantly into a great big starfish. I had to be the bearer of bad news that it would not go “Poof” nor grow instantly. It would take some days to slowly absorb the water and grow. The only thing that went “poof” was their excitement. Their shoulders fell with disappointment about a half foot. Patience, one of the fruits of the Spirit, is a frustrating one to learn.
This experience led me to think how sometimes I want to see kids and people grow instantly mature and wise. I myself wouldn’t mind an instant spurt of growth in the wisdom department. But alas, it does take time. Jesus told us that we must make our choices daily. Spiritual growth and wisdom is a step by step marathon, or even walkathon, not a sprint. Sometimes I find it like trying to walk on a slip-n-slide, take a step and slip and slide a few backwards. But don’t stop moving forward, with the Lord all things are possible.
The good news is, the next Saturday when the kids saw that the Starfish had grown some, they were all squeals of jumping up and down excitement. I was so thrilled to see them happy. It made me think though, when have I responded in kind to the spiritual growth of one of the kids or fellow church attenders. Jesus told us that, in the good aspects, we should be as the children. Next time I see spiritual growth I will remember how excited the kids were over the growth of a little sponge starfish.
Robert Newhall 