Bob Lumadue EYE ON THE SPARROW

EYE ON THE SPARROW

Matthew 6:26
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Matthew 10:26-31
26Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

About 70 years ago, in a small Methodist church in El Reno, Oklahoma, I first heard my mother sing “His Eye is on the Sparrow”. Even at that young age of seven, for some reason it had a significant effect on me. I did not fully understand the message, and certainly not the scripture behind it, but it touched me nevertheless. That is just the beginning of the story, which is somewhat self-serving, but I will tell it anyway.

This song is still in the Cokesbury Hymnal, thankfully, and I wish it were in the large Methodist hymnal. A lot of the old “down home” hymns have not survived the “improvements” that have taken place in the big hymnal over the years —but that is another story

Well, about 40 years ago, I was privileged to hear a cousin of my wife sing the same number in a small church in upper South Carolina, at a family gathering. Needless to say, it brought back memories.

About 15 years ago, at one of the first Hymn Sings at our church, a young tenor named Keith Hudspeth sang what has now become “my song” in his beautiful tenor voice. I cried like a baby.

Now, flash forward to about 10 years ago, and with no connection known to her, our daughter sang one of her first solos at St Andrews Methodist, and it was “His Eye is on the Sparrow’! Her voice bears an uncanny similarity to my mother’s voice — and that was a real experience, for me and for my wife Anne. Whatever talent our daughter has for singing, she got probably equally from my mother and from Arnie’s father, passed down to Anne and then to Liz. Certainly not from me!

Through the years of course, I have familiarized myself with the scriptures which were the inspiration for the song, mainly Matthew 6: 26, and 10:26-31. It becomes more and more apparent to me that God does have his eye on us, just as he has his eye on the smallest sparrow, and of course all living things.

I feel truly blessed to have the series of experiences I mentioned, and thank you for letting me share them.

My prayer would be that each of us continues to remember that “His Eye is on the Sparrow — and I Know He Watches Me”. Amen and Amen.