I woke up this morning feeling like today – day six — was a good day for some good results. A miraculous proclamation from the all-powerful. And as I sat on my screened porch with my coffee and prayers, God sent me a little sprig of positivity.

I heard the jangling of a little bell on the wind chimes hanging out by the pool. I turned my head, confused. There was no wind and the chimes were hanging still. But as I squinted, I saw the flash of feathers and heard a second bell jingle.

Now these chimes are comprised of a large tin star with long strands of beads and bells hanging off four of its five points. And there, at the bottom bell of the longest strand, I saw a tiny house sparrow pinching and pulling the bell with her beak. 

Now that’s not something you see every day, I thought.

And as I watched, she flew to a pot of geraniums and cocked her head at me. See what I just did there?  she seemed to intone. See what unexpected things I can do?

I saw. I heard. And I believed in the sign — the augury, if you will (an Ancient Roman practice of divination through birds). In other words, in little winged messages from God.

And lo and behold, this afternoon, the message officially arrived in Bethany’s patient portal: her biopsy results are NEGATIVE. Her tumor is BENIGN. 

Now it’s not lost on me that traditionally, a bell is rung when a cancer milestone is reached, and what a milestone Bethany just reached. Her cancer has NOT metastasized. She remains CANCER FREE after a terrifying scare.

There’s a quote attributed to St. Augustine that says: “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.” 

Well, I would’ve said a tiny bird playing with a wind chime and watching to make sure I saw it is completely contrary to nature. But now, I know that’s not the case. 

Am I a believer in miracles? Absolutely. We just need to keep our eyes and ears open.

Today, I saw and heard two.