“God knows you, even the numbers of hairs on your head,” says Christ Jesus in Luke 12:7.

For some of us, that’s an easier number to keep track of than others.

And just like that we missed the point.

Mary Oliver brings us back to center in the opening sentences of a collection of essays, Upstream: “One tree is like another tree, but not too much. One tulip is like the next tulip, but not altogether. More or less like people — a general outline, then the stunning individual strokes.”

Christ Jesus continues in Luke 12:7, “Don’t be afraid! You’re more valuable than you can imagine!”