When we want to identify something, we look at it closely.
When we see someone we think we know in a crowded
place, we concentrate on seeing a distinctive face or clothing or
walk. To identify birds, we look at shape and size. How big is
the bird? Is it fat or skinny, long or short? Expert birders identify
birds just by listening to their song. Then they look at each
part of the bird: is its bill short or long, thick or thin, curved or
straight? What shape are the tail and wings?

One spring I went birding with an expert who led a group
of us into Central Park. I can now identify a white-throated
sparrow and a chipping sparrow. He taught me to pay attention
and look. But in my heart of hearts I must confess that I’ve
become skeptical about this common approach to bird-watching
for one simple reason: It’s fine for identifying species, but it fails
to recognize individuality in each bird.

Why might any bird-watcher care about different sparrows
of the same species? It’s more than simply a matter of paying
attention or being more patient; it is a matter of attending to the
uniquenesses of the different sparrows. Isn’t this the way God
sees birds? Isn’t it the way God sees us?

Ezekiel the prophet is brought by God to “death valley”: a
valley of dry bones. Ezekiel spends time walking through these
bones to the extent that both he and readers are left despairing
and desolate. But God wants Ezekiel to address them. God
speaks to the prophet from a perspective he cannot fathom: “Can
these bones live?” “O Lord God , you know.” Where Ezekiel sees
dry bones and death, God sees a living, breathing nation.