Doolittle had been bedridden for nearly 20 years, and her husband was wheelchair bound. She and her husband were traveling in New York in the early 1900’s, when they befriended a couple named the Doolittles. Martin to write the hymn in the first place. This collision of condition and joy is what inspired Mrs. The melody sings reality-life can be oh so hard. The lyrics speak truth-our lives are in God’s careful, constant care. The words of the refrain are so enthusiastic and certain! “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free! His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” But the melody is somber, almost haunting. I love Civilla Martin’s hymn, “His Eye Is On The Sparrow,” because it so beautifully embodies this mysterious juxtaposition of circumstance and joy. The word “supernatural” doesn’t often escape my lips, but that’s only the way I know to describe the peace that covered us. Even so, the season was somehow undergirded with a steady, pulsing joy. Making it from one day to the next was an overwhelming chore. We were terrified, facing death together for the first time in such an intimate way. It was a hard season-harder than I care to remember most of the time. It was a happy day for our family, though “happy” is not exactly the word I’d use to describe that time in our lives. We’re all smiling in that picture-each and every one of us. He sits wearily but happily in his recliner, wearing a plaid flannel shirt and an oxygen tube, and the group of us is gathered, standing, around him. We have a photo of my family from a few years ago, on the day my dad came home from a long hospital stay.
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