When sparrows fall

My wife spoke at the recent KZN Garden Club AGM on the topic, “The Gospel According to Birds.” Her first of four points was “Do Not Worry”, where she looked at birds in Matthew 6v26, 10v29-31.

She reminded us that God provides for and protects us. That God knows the number of hairs on our head, even when one tiny little sparrow falls. “God loves us more than we will ever understand,” she remarked, “and yet sparrows still fall to the ground and we do suffer.”

Her comment about sparrows made me think of a novel I read 10 years ago by Maria Doria Russell called “The Sparrow”. In it, a Jesuit priest, Emilio, goes on a mission that goes terribly wrong, leaving him alone in a personal hell of a desolated faith. Basically the story explores the complexity of human suffering and the difficult journey of restoration – it’s the age-old problem of suffering to which Russell doesn’t give a pat answer. In the closing pages, three fellow Jesuit priests (Felipe, John, Vincenszo) are reflecting on what happened to Emilio:

[Felipe] He sat back in the bench and stared at the ancient olive trees defining the edge of the garden. ‘There’s an old Jewish story that says in the beginning God was everywhere and everything, a totality. But to make creation, God had to remove Himself from some part of the universe, so something besides Himself could exist. So He breathed in, and in the places where God withdrew, there creation exists.’

‘So God just leaves?’ John asked, angry where Emilio had been desolate. ‘Abandons creation? You’re on your own, apes. Good luck!’

[Felipe] ‘No. He watches. He rejoices. He weeps. He observes the moral drama of human life and gives meaning to it by caring passionately about us, and remembering.’

‘Matthew ten, verse twenty-nine,’ Vincenzo Giuliani said quietly, ‘”Not one sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.'”

‘But the sparrow still falls,’ Felipe said.

Only in Christ can this “sparrow” reality be faced. God is no mere observer of a creation he has withdrawn from. God in Christ Jesus is present in our suffering and suffers with us. God offers us a hope centred in the cross and the resurrection of Christ. Is my faith so deeply rooted in this hope that I can heed my wife’s (and Jesus’) words, “Do not worry”?

You can read Peter Houson’s blog here.