{"id":952,"date":"2010-10-04T22:16:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-04T22:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/10\/preached-to-by-the-birds\/"},"modified":"2010-10-04T22:16:00","modified_gmt":"2010-10-04T22:16:00","slug":"preached-to-by-the-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/10\/preached-to-by-the-birds.html","title":{"rendered":"Preached to by the Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_5BV_YADVD7o\/TKqIzwCehKI\/AAAAAAAAE6Q\/wzdf5mbyJeQ\/s1600\/st_francis_birds.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_5BV_YADVD7o\/TKqIzwCehKI\/AAAAAAAAE6Q\/wzdf5mbyJeQ\/s400\/st_francis_birds.jpg\" width=\"400\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>I never preached to the birds, but once the birds preached to me. I was an Anglican priest, and I had been invited to take part in a healing service for a woman who was very ill. I was dubious. Who was I to heal anyone? I worried that I would pray for her and nothing would happen. I was nervous that she would expect healing and that the lack of healing would weaken her faith and it would be my fault. I was full of doubt.<\/p>\n<p>So I was walking over to the church for Evening Prayer and I was praying my rosary saying the Jesus Prayer and sort of contemplating as I walked along, and suddenly I heard the birds singing. To be specific I heard one particular bird call. The bird was cheeping a repetitive and rhythmic chant, and in my head I heard as it chirped, \u201cMatthew 9.22. Matthew 9.22. Matthew 9.22\u201d Of course the bird didn\u2019t say, \u201cMatthew 9:22\u201d but the rhythm and sound was like that and that is what I heard in my head. It was very persistent and the bird seemed to fly along beside me as I walked.<\/p>\n<p>So when I got to church I got a Bible and looked up Matthew 9:22. It said, \u201cJesus turned and saw her. \u201cTake heart, daughter,\u201d he said, \u201cyour faith has healed you.\u201d And the woman was healed from that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I went to the healing service, took part and the woman received healing.<\/p>\n<p>True story.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I never preached to the birds, but once the birds preached to me. I was an Anglican priest, and I had been invited to take part in a healing service for a woman who was very ill. I was dubious. Who was I to heal anyone? I worried that I would pray for her and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Preached to by the Birds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I never preached to the birds, but once the birds preached to me. I was an Anglican priest, and I had been invited to take part in a healing service for a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/10\/preached-to-by-the-birds.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preached to by the Birds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I never preached to the birds, but once the birds preached to me. I was an Anglican priest, and I had been invited to take part in a healing service for a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/10\/preached-to-by-the-birds.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. 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