His eye is on the sparrow

Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914. The Met.

I read this article by Garrison Keillor and was especially stuck by these two quotes:

I think of the old hymn, “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. For His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” This is unbelievable and yet I believe it, that the Creator of the Universe, billions of light years infinite, is aware of me and my love and the mother bird, and cares for us.

and

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. Life is a series of surprises. Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. Give thanks continuously. Be silent, that we may hear the whisper of God.” Shave and a haircut, two bits.

“This is unbelievable and yet I believe it.” Right? God, the immense, unimaginable, un-understandable, greater-than-great God, loves me. Cares about me. And the little sparrow. And the big universe. And me. And you.

I love the old hymn Keillor quotes, “For His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” That phrase, “his eye is on…” reminds me of a favorite scene in the movie “October Sky.” His teacher, Miss Reilly, who encouraged Homer Hickam to study math and get out of the dying mining town he grew up in by going to college, says to him, in her lilting Southern accent, “I’ve got my eye on you, Homer Hickam.” Love it.

And God has his eye on me. His gaze, filled with love, is watching over me and you. I am the apple of his eye — another old saying I love. You are the apple of God’s eye. He loves you.