I have a former student, Jillian, who, sometimes, becomes a hero to me.  She is a woman who lives utterly and passionately, and, yet, her body likes to rebel against her and cause her excruciating pain.

So what does Jillian do? She continues to live despite the pain.  She donates hours of her time to various philanthropic organizations.  She gives without thought.  She adopts animals that no one else wants.  She volunteers at even more philanthropic organizations.

She is the sparrow.

This metaphor, hopefully, will make sense by the end of this post.  I’m not certain where that came from other than I had a moment of (hopefully) divine and not idiotic inspiration because I heard (NO!   I AM NOT HEARING VOICES!) a paraphrase of “I see the sparrow fall” or something like that.

So I researched and found the correct verses from Matthew 10:29-31 and I’m now going to copy and paste them from biblegateway.com (Good English teacher, here, giving credit back to the original resource):

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

What I am saying is that Jillian is amazing because she loves everyone, regardless of who they are or what they may or may not offer to the world.  She seeks, vigorously, avenues to offer love and compassion and healing.

Note, I do not have any pictures of Jillian on my computer so I am using pictures of my children to show the purest form of love…which is what I see in Jillian.

And, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that women are being recognized for their achievements and their struggles to get past oppression and their non-stop work to ensure that all women will eventually be given equality, regardless of boundaries, beliefs, or societal standards.  I’m proud that my daughter, the first time she went to Disney World, begged the “Mayor of Main Street” for an autograph when, in reality, the woman was actually not allowed to give autographs.  The “Mayor of Main Street” is actually a 1910’s feminist wearing the “Votes for Women” sash (ala Mary Poppins).  I’m proud that my daughter and I gave directions to the Capital to two women who were speaking before Congress on women’s rights and women’s issues.  I’m proud that my daughter is independent and doesn’t want men or anyone to rescue her.

The coolest Disney Princesses ever!

So, back to Jillian and her being the sparrow.  Jillian’s post was not about relinquishing the equal rights women have fought for.  Jillian’s post was not about returning to corsets or about donning burkhas.  It was about seeing that equal rights means just that..equality and not superiority which, sometimes, I think is the direction feminism could go if the wrong people got their hands on it.

The Girl at the White House. Someday, I think she will be inside the White House…maybe behind a really cool desk..in an office shaped like an oval….

She constantly shows the love that is preached about in church, temple, the synagogue, the mosque, under the Bodhi Tree, at the Wailing Wall, or by the River Jordan.  She doesn’t think about what she’s going to get out of this.  She merely watches for her own sparrows and cups them in her hands and counts the feathers on their heads, ensures that everything is where it needs to be, and then sends them back out into the world while scooping up the next sparrow.

The Boy sitting with kittens that are, maybe, 12 hours old.