"Her eye is on the sparrow, and She watches over me..."

"'Cause you'll be in my heart,
no matter what they say...
You'll be here in my heart
always,
always, and always..."

I love Phil Collins' "You'll Be in My Heart," from Disney's Tarzan. 

Every mother who has spent a sunny afternoon sitting at the edge of a park playground, knows how important it is to know where your child is at any given moment.  You can be talking with another mother, tying your shoes, looking for that box of baby wipes buried in your tote, and still you are aware of exactly where your child is...slide, jungle gym, playing in the sandbox with the little redhead in pigtails and an apple green parka...every moment...you know, you always know.  

What your child doesn't realize, is that this practice doesn't stop when they think they no longer need to be watched.  It doesn't even stop with you think they probably don't need to be watched.  It has become a "sixth sense," part of your awareness DNA,  It is an integral part of your being, and it kicks into full gear whenever he/she is within your purvey. 

Author Elizabeth Berg wrote:

"You are always in my thoughts. When you were little, I knew your whereabouts at any given moment. Now that you are off on your own, I still always know where you are, because I keep you in my heart."

This isn't just a fascinating human phenomenon.  I believe it is an indication of our inherent oneness with the divine.  We have this skill, because on some very deep spiritual level, we have witnessed it in the way our Father-Mother God cares for, and is aware of us...and our whereabouts...at any given moment.  We know it, we feel it, we sense Her divine eye on us.  And we model this divine love in our love for our children and those we care deeply about.

In this clip, Lauryn Hill sings from the old spiritual, "His Eye is On the Sparrow":

"His eye is on the sparrow,
and He watches over me..."

No matter where we are, He...She watches over all of us.  Sparrow, child, world leader, prisoner-of-war...sleeping softly in our beds, gripping the gunwales of a storm-tossed sailboat, on a suburban playground, or trapped beneath the earth in a collapsed mine shaft.  Her eyes are on us, and we are safe.

We have learned well from our divine parent.  I remember a summer, not long ago at camp, when one of my daughters told me, "mom, every time I look up from what I am doing at dinner, you are looking at me...please stop."

I tried to explain that I was completely unaware that I was doing this at the time, but when I thought about it, it made sense.  I had spent her entire childhood watching her, making sure that I knew where she was at the mall, at the park, on the soccer field...you name it.   Deciding to not be aware of where she was when we were in the same space...was nearly impossible.

I realize now, that this is why I am aware of my own mom's eyes on me, whenever we are in the same room, kitchen, church, hallway, park...yes, even at the park.   Even though I am 56 years old, my mom is still watching over me.  To her, I am a little girl swinging on the swingset trying to reach the sun by reaching my toes higher and higher into the sky.

e.e. cummings once wrote: 

"...i carry your heart with me
i carry it in my heart
i am never without it
anywhere i go
you go, my dear..."

This is how God loves us. We are never out of Her sight, never out of Her range of vision.  We are in Her focus, in Her periphery, in Her heart...always, always and always.

with love,
Kate
Kate Robertson, CS