1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
These two verses from Genesis have made the snake one of the most dreaded and most harmed creatures of all God’s great creation. Even in speaking, we often use words such as “a snake in the grass” to express our disgust.
Now, I don’t know how you feel about snakes. I realize there are some very large and very deadly snakes in the world. But here, around the Montreal area, if we are lucky enough to see one, they are usually of the harmless garter snake variety. If we do come face to face, I choose to respect our mutual boundaries with a nodding acknowledgement as we go our separate ways.
But sometimes even the snake finds itself in trouble and, if it is possible to see any emotion at all in its cold black eyes, you realize that your paths have crossed serendipitously.
As I closed the porch screened door this week, I was surprised to see what I thought was a piece of black and yellow cord, wedged in the track. On closer examination I realized that it was a garter snake. Perhaps because of the heat, s/he thought they had found a cool place to pass the day. Unfortunately, having crawled into the hole in the track (which is usually there for drainage), it was truly stuck. You see, the hole was small enough for the front end of the snake -- but not for the belly and tail end.
As the cats suddenly became interested in this new creature, I called for Koji to come quickly as I could not hold off the cats or close the door again, which could prove fatal.
On assessing the situation, Koji went to get his trusty chopsticks to try and pull the creature out. But it was indeed stuck. A quick discussion ensued and the only possible solution seemed to be olive oil. Grease it up and try again!
Koji returned with the oil, sanitary latex gloves and a bucket (to put the unfortunate creature in should it be freed). With calm determination, patience and a gentle hand, s/he came loose. It was quicky placed in the bucket and rushed out into the garden.
Did it stop to say thank you? No, or course not. But it did slither away, as quickly as possible. Hopefully it was not seriously harmed and lived to see another dawn.
I guess all of this is to say that each and everyday Creator presents us with opportunities to be our best selves, even to those who God once deemed to be culpable. The olive oil was a nice touch; a blessing of sorts. In biblical times, prophets anointed priests and kings, and the sick were anointed with oil as part of the procedure of healing by faith and by the laying on of hands.
God speaks in situations we cannot imagine. I say, again, thanks be to God!
Pastor Beryl