Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
“The Lord helps those who help themselves.” That aphorism seems so right that many people page through their Bible looking for scriptural backing for this, or for something else they already subscribe to. But it’s not there.
What we could find support for is the idea that God has a role to play in our lives, and we have a part to play too. That’s about as close as we can get. The challenge often comes when we have difficulty differentiating between God’s part and ours.
A simple example of this cooperative effort might be drawn from conservation measures put forth to save the near-threatened Bachman’s Sparrow from further decline. This uncommon and elusive resident of the pine forests of the Southeast can be difficult to find except when one can find it singing from an exposed perch. It is a mid-sized sparrow with a flat head and disproportionally large bill. Formerly known as the Pinewoods Sparrow, this name gives a good indication where it might be found, among longleaf, shortleaf, and loblolly pine as well as oak woods and palmetto scrub. But each of these areas must be free from heavy undergrowth along with ample grass cover.
Its numbers continue to decline due in part to another specific requirement, it does best when the trees are young saplings rather than mature forests. This means that it is one of the most fire-dependent species in North America. Accordingly, prescribed forest burns are used to create this ideal habitat. The sparrow does its part by raising two broods per year, and should one fail, it has been known to try renesting five times.
Is it worth saving? It’s not particularly attractive, not exactly star-quality. Fortunately for us, that’s not the basis upon which God determined whether or not we were worth saving. His very nature answered that question even before it was asked.