JULY122025

There’s a wonderful scene in the book, Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger, where the younger sister tells her brother she doesn’t like Jesus anymore. The cause of this apostasy? Jesus said, “you are worth more than many sparrows.” The older brother explains that for Jesus even the worst human being is more valuable than a sweet, innocent baby chick because every human being has an eternal destiny. There are religious traditions which don’t make that distinction, that treat all life as equally good. And there are modern philosophers who would prioritize a healthy animal over a handicapped person. But that is not how Jesus think. Jesus is part of the Biblical tradition which believes that human beings are made in the “image and likeness of God.” Yes, all life must be respected and cared for. (Not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.) But human life, every human life, must be treated as the image of God in the world.