The Biddy Sparrow

"What's them biddy sparrows doing now,
Papa?" Corliss Cameron, age 7, although
blind from birth possessed an insatiable
thirst to know the world around her,
"Them biddy sparrows going for that
hunk of bread, baby girl. Them sparrows are
scrappers just like you."
One day the blind girl's curiosity turned
toward theology. "What's God look like,
Papa?"
"Don't know."
"Never seen him?
"No."
"Tell me if you see God, Papa."
Suddenly the man recalled beholding a
portrait of the Almighty--Michaelangelo's
famous fresco, The Creation of Adam.
"God was sort of fat, Corliss, and he had a
white beard."
"Is God Santa Claus, Papa?"
The little blind girl's pursuit of God
began on Santa's lap at the mall. "Are you
God, Santa?"
This year's Santa Claus was a 24 year old
graduate student--a religion major and an
atheist. Jolly St. Nick had few good tidings
to tell the blind girl about Christianity.
The following day, sitting atop the steps
of an old building, father and daughter fed
the pigeons. "What is this place, Papa?"
The man stood in search of some
indication. He saw some words on the wall.
Around 1932 the sign read Pentecostal
Union Church in old English letters. It had
never been touched up, and several letters
were faded or completely washed out. "I
think it says this is the Peanut Onion Church,
Corliss."
"Can we go to the Peanut Onion Church,
Papa?"
"For sure, Corliss."
The little girl's pursuit of God continued
that Sunday on the back pew of the
Pentecostal Union Church. For the special
occasion Mike bought his daughter a new
dress from Goodwill--actually it was a
discarded uniform from the Bishop Fulton J.
Sheen Catholic Girl's School. Mike Cameron
didn't know the difference.