Friday, July 19, 2013

Why do I believe in Saint Francis? By Reverend Alaina Damewood


Illustration in Courtesy of Wikimedia commons
Saint Francis statue at the Mission of Nombre de Dios
                                         
For years I questioned myths about saints , angles and animals have always intrigued me but I used to think they where all just myths . Until I started experience my own divine in counter about 6 years ago. It started as a normal day after getting out of a long day of doing ministry work at a local college some of my friends asked me to go with them to the store and out to eat. We went to a local store to pick up some things for their work as well as I went there to come up with things to get to actives for the kids at the colledge .

After getting out of the store we decided to walk to the other end of the shopping center to grab food before the friend who had been driving us dropped all of our friends back to where we needed to go to. We started walking when my friends Shawn and Adam stated : Alaina that bird is following you . I told them just to keep walking and maybe it would go away , so we continued to walk down to the place to grab food , as the bird kept walking behind me. We got to the door of the place we where going to eat at and the bird was still behind my feet .

Shawn turned to me and stated Alaina what are you going to do about that bird? I said I will take care of it I turned and looked to the animal and stated Saint Francis of Assisi you can not come into the eating place with us while your in a birds body . The bird started acting like a normal bird and then became afraid of me like a normal animal and flew off. I questioned to my self was that really Francis as I went inside the restraint to join my friends . After we got out all of us walked back up to the other end of the parking a lot and got into my friends car to be dropped off . I asked Shawn to take me back home first since I was the closets one in the area then take our other friends back . So Shawn agreed to drive me back first. The second we pulled up into the drive away to where I lived , another bird of the same type flew down off a tree and sat right on the top of Shawn's car. Then I turned and looked at Shawn with his face being in panic and I said what is wrong he said my car will not start . The bird flew off his car as I turned and said thanks Francis for the warning . This was my first experience feeling like the saint of animals was watching my back.

The second event occurred up in Huntington WV where I had went with another friend to get his girls so they could come down and stay a few days with spending time with my kids. We where over at a store and a bird was following his car . Then I turned and looked at my friend saying I think we need to pull over . My friend asked why , I turned looked at my friend and said I just have a feeling something is getting ready to happen. So we pulled over then he receive a phone call saying his girls where not going to make it down because there had been a family emergency . My friend turned and looked at me and said how did you know . I said the little bird who was following us since our last stop did not leave and keep flying beside us . Then my friend who was a devoted roman right catholic turned around and said are you familiar with saint Francis the saint of animals ? I said yes and I believe he was the one warning us about your girls. My friend looked smiled and said Alaina I guess the legends about him are true . I smiled and said I like to think so.

This is the reason I believe in saint Francis and other saints because ever time when I think he is not watching I have another bird or other animal does something to warn me about events . I also like to think all the other myths about , angles , saints are real to some degree to . Because every time something happens to me . I question who is going to help me now and it makes we wonder what else is real that we do not pay attention to because of people saying they are just myths.

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