He overcame a childhood stutter by preaching to the chickens in his farmyard. He took care of the chickens for the family. It was one of the ways his theological vision became manifest as he would baptize them and marry them. Once, when he was baptizing one, he drowned it, and that was a problem. He said his first act of nonviolent protest was refusing to eat chicken at dinner. He thought it was the death of one of his soulmates.
