If you are reading this on a computer or phone, they might be watching you…. I remember reading George Orwell’s novel 1984 in high school (nineteen eighty-four seemed fantastically futuristic in those days). In Orwell’s novel, the government had a surveillance camera in every room, but they were big and easily identified. As it actually turned out, the cameras are not only in every room but in every pocket, and they are a lot smaller. In 2007, Britain had 4.2 million surveillance cameras, capturing the average person about 300 times a day through their tiny lenses. One can scarcely guess how many surveillance cameras America has (most agree it is well over 10 million), but in the room where I am typing this column there are at least three cameras that I know of: one camera is staring at me from this very laptop, one looks on from my cell phone, and one peers from a tiny armature mounted on the wall. Orwell didn’t realize how small and invisible cameras could be, nor the clever ways government could use cameras to spy on their owners. I’m online now, and no doubt it is feasible for someone to be watching me through my own computer.
But not to worry: even if “they” are watching you, “He” is watching you too. Someone recently gave me a lovely song by Audrey Assad called “Sparrow:”
Why should I be troubled
When His tender word I hear
Know I rest on His goodness
In my doubt and in my fear…
I sing because He loves me,
I sing because I'm free
For His eye is on the sparrow…
And I know He's watching me.
Why is it that we are “troubled” when someone else watches me, but I’m “free” when He watches me? If someone looks at me with love, then I want him to watch me. It’s not the “watching” that disturbs us, but the watching without love. “Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly Father’s knowledge,” Jesus assured us. “Do not be afraid: You are worth more than a whole flock of sparrows.” I’ve always loved Jesus’ humor: He chortles and calms our anxiety with a little smile. “You are really important to me—I would say more precious than even a hundred of those pesky birds!” He likes birds (who doesn’t?), but how can he describe his infinite love for his beloved children?
“They” might be watching me, but my heavenly Father is watching over me. He watches me with love, and they watch me with envy. He watches to keep me from stumbling, and they, the accusers, watch in order to catch me stumbling. So are we happy, and are we free, even though someone is peering at us 300 times a day? Yes, we are happy, and we are free, because He too is watching over me, and over the watchers themselves. His love casts out fear. God is bigger than your surveillance technology. So let the cameras roll. What have we to fear if we live by the law of God? I’d rather not have the cameras, but if we can’t stop them, we might as well stop worrying. “They are happy,” said the verse at daytime prayer today, “who live by the law of God.” They are happy who know that “He’s watching over me.”
But not to worry: even if “they” are watching you, “He” is watching you too. Someone recently gave me a lovely song by Audrey Assad called “Sparrow:”
Why should I be troubled
When His tender word I hear
Know I rest on His goodness
In my doubt and in my fear…
I sing because He loves me,
I sing because I'm free
For His eye is on the sparrow…
And I know He's watching me.
Why is it that we are “troubled” when someone else watches me, but I’m “free” when He watches me? If someone looks at me with love, then I want him to watch me. It’s not the “watching” that disturbs us, but the watching without love. “Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly Father’s knowledge,” Jesus assured us. “Do not be afraid: You are worth more than a whole flock of sparrows.” I’ve always loved Jesus’ humor: He chortles and calms our anxiety with a little smile. “You are really important to me—I would say more precious than even a hundred of those pesky birds!” He likes birds (who doesn’t?), but how can he describe his infinite love for his beloved children?
“They” might be watching me, but my heavenly Father is watching over me. He watches me with love, and they watch me with envy. He watches to keep me from stumbling, and they, the accusers, watch in order to catch me stumbling. So are we happy, and are we free, even though someone is peering at us 300 times a day? Yes, we are happy, and we are free, because He too is watching over me, and over the watchers themselves. His love casts out fear. God is bigger than your surveillance technology. So let the cameras roll. What have we to fear if we live by the law of God? I’d rather not have the cameras, but if we can’t stop them, we might as well stop worrying. “They are happy,” said the verse at daytime prayer today, “who live by the law of God.” They are happy who know that “He’s watching over me.”
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