Happy Friday, readers! Inkwell is pleased to present a preview of our second issue of the semester, “Contention.”

Vivian Waite’s poem “If God Saw the Sparrow Fall” focuses on the greater purpose of contention. When events occur in our lives that we cannot explain or understand, we often argue with God. There are many common points of contention: Why does God let bad things happen? Why doesn’t He look out for us like He promised He would? Indeed, why does He let the sparrow fall? Imagine how exhausted God must be of hearing these complaints over and over again, when He has proven over and over again that He has plans for each of us, and they are better plans than we could ever come up with ourselves! God may let His little sparrow fall, but He still has plans for it—perhaps to raise it up to fly higher than before.

We hope you enjoy Vivian’s poem, and we look forward to sharing our entire issue with you next Friday, October 20.

If God Saw the Sparrow Fall
God said He sees the Sparrow fall— And cares for us as well— But why would He let the Sparrow fall If He cared that the Sparrow fell? If God really saw the Sparrow fall Before he hit the ground, Why did He do nothing at all To keep him