I understand this sentiment all too well. I hate snakes. It probably stems from an incident when I was roughly 2 1/2 or three years old. We lived in a trailer house, and every morning, I'd trudge outside and pick up the paper. At this age, I considered it fun.
One morning, I opened the door and proceeded to walk toward the steps. I looked toward the ground, and there was a snake! I have no earthly idea what kind of snake it was. I just know that the darn thing looked right at me, opened its mouth and hissed. I screamed bloody murder and ran back inside the house. My mom shot at it a couple of times with a .22, but I don't think she hit it. She did finish it off with a hoe.
Don't know if it was the shock of seeing the snake, it hissing at me, or what, but the image is deeply embedded in my brain, and I believe it serves as the root core of why I vehemently dislike snakes.
Fast forward 35+ years to yesterday.
I worked in my garden harvesting my corn crop. After finishing, I needed to water my cucumbers, squash, and watermelon. I headed to the spigot on the west side of the church building. I was just about to reach down and grab the water hose when I heard a hissing sound. I looked into an old armadillo hole and saw a black snake trying to swallow a toad. Looking carefully, I saw the snake's head and fangs protruding on each side. It was a water moccasin! Venomous! Not the kind of snake I want hanging around with my kids and pets playing outside on a regular basis.
Now, I know what scripture says in the 16th chapter of the book of Mark:
17"And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16: 17-18
I also know that this text probably was added later after the original author finished his work (you'd be able to tell it too if you read the Greek.) I do know there are those who believe this to be inspired scripture, and these
My faith is not that strong.
I immediately left the vicinity and headed for my shop to appropriate a hoe.
Have you ever tried digging a snake out of a hole where he is entrenched? Not an easy task. Cottonmouths are notoriously strong. They are also pretty aggressive, and my saving grace was this one was trying to swallow a meal. He was more in retreat mode, so I had an edge. However, despite my efforts, I still couldn't get the thing out. It was time for stronger measures.
I like the Second Amendment to the Constitution, and I personally believe it guarantees individual American citizens the right to bear arms. When facing a poisonous snake in a hole, that right to bear arms comes into play handily, and I exercised it. My kids watched from their bedroom window where they could see the scene play out.
The first two would have done the job, I found out later. But I fired two more for insurance measures.
After dragging the snake out, I used my hoe for insurance.
Now, just for safe measures, I went back and read my letter of call. It has nothing in there about protecting the church from deadly serpents, but I think I'm going to go back and write it in. One day, I'm going to retire, and the next person in line will need to know what he/she is getting into.
Apparently, in order to be a country preacher, you've got to be a snake killer as well.
p.s. Hung the dang thing on the fence belly up. It better rain now!
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