“Tweet Tweet” of the Sparrow
By Ada Brownell
I’ve had an electric piano for several years and the
other day I noticed a setting that said, “Bird.”
I decided to use it. For years I’d played “His Eye is on the
Sparrow” on the spinet piano and tried to tickle the keys occasionally so
they’d sound like a bird singing.
So with my keyboard layered on settings of
“orchestra,” “electric bass,” and “bird,” my fingers played my
arrangement. “Tweet-tweet” kept
interrupting with a joyful sound as the words of the verse and chorus ran
through my mind while I played.
A couple of days later at a women’s Bible
study, a prayer request was made for children who fear the ever-present dangers
of war. I related my story of the “Tweet-Tweet” song. They laughed with me about my silly musical
arrangement. But as we discussed God’s
watchful loving care and made other requests, we were reminded of the message
in “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” One
woman in our group was facing a breast cancer biopsy.
Civilla D. Martin wrote the words to “His Eye
is on the Sparrow” after traveling in 1905 to Elmira, New York, where she and her husband met Mr. and Mrs.
Doolittle. Civilla thought the Doolittles were saints. Despite Mrs. Doolittle
being an invalid for nearly twenty years, and her husband in a wheel chair, the couple radiated with
joy. They inspired everyone around them.
One day Civilla’s husband asked them for the source
of their upbeat, positive attitudes. Mrs. Doolittle replied, "His eye is
on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."
The phrase stuck in Civilla’s mind. She put pen to
paper and the song was born with the help of Charles H. Gabriel, who composed
the music.
The song asks, “Why should I feel
discouraged?” and concludes with “I know He watches me.”
The song was taken from what Jesus said: “Fear
not…. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are
of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:28-31).
What Jesus said can help anyone filled with
fear – fear of war, fear for health, fear of the future, or any other kind of
fear. The Lord not only sees us, but He loves us, hears us and is with us
wherever we go.
©Ada Brownell
Ada’s blog: http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com
One of Ada’s six books
is Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death,
Resurrection and the Eternal.
Both the paperback
and the Kindle editions are available at www.amazon.com
under the author’s name.
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