Snakes, Church, and How to Be Beautiful
May 8, 2012
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| Photo credits |
A song on Sunday sent me
into snake ponderings.
into snake ponderings.
The worship song surged
around me in the church pew and I lifted my writhing three year old onto my
hip. Unaccustomed to being with us in the service, he was a whirl of energy and
motion. Hanging off the chair with one hand and shoulder draped off the edge,
he had peered at the floor. Spinning over he cuddled onto his sister’s lap,
squeezing her arms for a hug. A grey sandaled shoe jabbed into my side, and I
quickly readjusted my shirt.
around me in the church pew and I lifted my writhing three year old onto my
hip. Unaccustomed to being with us in the service, he was a whirl of energy and
motion. Hanging off the chair with one hand and shoulder draped off the edge,
he had peered at the floor. Spinning over he cuddled onto his sister’s lap,
squeezing her arms for a hug. A grey sandaled shoe jabbed into my side, and I
quickly readjusted my shirt.
It wasn’t his writhings
that turned my mind to snakes, though. The worship song that we stood and sung
back to God said wonderingly,
that turned my mind to snakes, though. The worship song that we stood and sung
back to God said wonderingly,
You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful
things, you make beautiful things out of us.
things, you make beautiful things out of us.
…
You make me new, you
are making me new.
are making me new.
You make me new, you are
making me new.
making me new.
My oldest son has an
eighteen inch garter snake that he found and tamed. Now the snake often coils
comfortably up my son’s arm as he walks the house, or hangs harmlessly around
my seventeen year old’s neck as my son corrects his math problems.
eighteen inch garter snake that he found and tamed. Now the snake often coils
comfortably up my son’s arm as he walks the house, or hangs harmlessly around
my seventeen year old’s neck as my son corrects his math problems.
“Did you know,” my dad
said, “that a snake is nearly blind right before it sheds its skin? With eyes
that are clouded, it is fearful and aggressive. Feeling vulnerable, it
will often strike at the hand bringing it food too.”
said, “that a snake is nearly blind right before it sheds its skin? With eyes
that are clouded, it is fearful and aggressive. Feeling vulnerable, it
will often strike at the hand bringing it food too.”
My son built a reptile
habitat in a glass aquarium, with cedar wood chips and an overturned log.
habitat in a glass aquarium, with cedar wood chips and an overturned log.
In order to rid itself
of the old skin that is constraining and hindering it, the snake has to be
intentional. It can’t hole up in a safe corner with blinded eyes.
Rather the snake has to purposely lean into the hard places between the log and
the glass window, and push through the rough patches, intentionally poking into
and through dark places. It’s the
pressure and the pulling that tug off the dead to reveal beauty below.
of the old skin that is constraining and hindering it, the snake has to be
intentional. It can’t hole up in a safe corner with blinded eyes.
Rather the snake has to purposely lean into the hard places between the log and
the glass window, and push through the rough patches, intentionally poking into
and through dark places. It’s the
pressure and the pulling that tug off the dead to reveal beauty below.
We’re standing in the
pews and singing and I’m holding my three-year-old in my arms and he’s writhing,
and I picture my oldest’s newly-gleaming snake. Pearlescent emerald and gleaming
amber striped down the snake’s back, leaving behind a faded, transparent wraith
in the aquarium.
pews and singing and I’m holding my three-year-old in my arms and he’s writhing,
and I picture my oldest’s newly-gleaming snake. Pearlescent emerald and gleaming
amber striped down the snake’s back, leaving behind a faded, transparent wraith
in the aquarium.
I sang, You make things new,
you are making me new…
you are making me new…
You make beautiful
things….
things….
And I realize that it’s
me that God has been pressing through the tight places, poking into the dark
corners, and leaning me into the rough patches to tear off the old, revealing
beauty below.
me that God has been pressing through the tight places, poking into the dark
corners, and leaning me into the rough patches to tear off the old, revealing
beauty below.
How do we be beautiful?
We lean into the rough places. We dare to walk with our Creator through the
dark corners, through the tight spaces that’ll pull off the old and make all
things new.
We lean into the rough places. We dare to walk with our Creator through the
dark corners, through the tight spaces that’ll pull off the old and make all
things new.
You make beautiful things out of the dust
you make beautiful things out of us
All credit to the Gungor band and to Youtube for letting me use this song.
Jennifer
jenniferdougan.com
Insightful and beautiful as always Jen, and I totally love this song! I'm still not wild about snakes though. Thanks for linking up with me today!
Jennifer, that is a hard hard truth.
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I am going a little crazy this reading this blog. I have a huge thing about snakes. Ohhhh they gross me out.hahahha!
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Hi Michelle,
This song is powerful, isn't it?
(grinning) Sorry about the snake imagery for you and Liz (House of Mills).
Jennifer
jenniferdougan.com
Hi Cabinart/Jana,
Yes, I agree. A hard, hard truth. It's hard to lean into the rough.
Jennifer
jenniferdougan.com
Liz,
Your comments submitted two times extra, it looks like?
Oh, Jennifer, your post was a gift from God today as it affirmed how God has been having me go through the hard places & as I go to write about it…praying for His beauty to appear in both of us…it is a difficult process…Blessings to you, Jennifer 🙂
Dolly,
I'm so glad that God used this in you today. Lean into those hard spaces, and against those rough places with Him, and with me too…
Blessings,
Jennifer
jenniferdougan.com
nice…great song…and love how you wrapped it into the story of hte snake and his shedding of skin…another thought back to eustice as well in the dawntreader and his shedding of skin…making all things new…nice post…
Thank you, Brian. Yes, I thought of Eustace too but didn't know how many others would recognize his name. Thank you.
Jennifer
Oh, I know this is true, this needing to lean into the hard places. Sigh. I've been leaning into a hard place for a few months, and yes, I do see those glimpses of beauty and they are worth it. But the old skin hasn't left yet; God is still working on me. Thanks for the encouragement to not give up too soon…
I find it so cool that God sends us notes in His creation, messages of truth that we can find…even in SNAKES!
Also I love that song. I think your posts are very well thought out, every time I come here I walk away with something to think about and ponder.
It’s the pressure and the pulling that tug off the dead to reveal beauty below.
wow. i love this friend. i would be honored if you'd let me share this piece at my eating disorder blog sometime? if so, can you email it to me? wierenga.emily[at]gmail.com. bless you. e.
Jennifer…What a great visual of how God molds us into who He wants us to be, especially during those times of trials. Thank you for sharing this at WJIM this week.