Mad Adder

Mad Adder

My friend Deb and I like to try to stump each other with movie quotes. I’ll let you join in on our fun. Guess the movie.

“Asps. Very dangerous . . . You go first.”

Next hint:

“Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?”

Personally, I don’t mind snakes. Of course I am not a big fan of being surprised by them, but when I am able to observe them in their natural habitat, I get pretty excited– especially if I am camera-ready. That’s why, while on a trip to England, I was on the lookout for the country’s only venomous snake: t h e a d d e r.

These snakes are mostly found in the woodland countryside. They like rough terrain, where there are plenty of hiding spots. And that is exactly where we were when I was on the hunt. We were out on the heath, which is uncultivated land covered with small shrubs and overgrown vegetation like heather or gorse (which is a beautiful bush when flowering with bright yellow flowers, but dangerously thorny.) My Uncle Tabs is the caretaker of the wild Dartmoor ponies that inhabit the heath in his city of Wroxham. Dartmoor wild ponies are original to (drum roll). . . Dartmoor. However, for fear of a single bomb attack that could wipe out the whole species, the government has allowed other cities to appropriate some of the ponies. They help keep the vegetation under control on the heaths, whilst protecting these beautiful creatures from a single location wipeout. It’s a win-win.

I made several trips to visit the ponies, but never spotted an adder. By nature, the adders found in Great Britain are not aggressive and quite shy. They are solitary creatures and will attack only if they are stepped on or caught.

However, according to my uncle, there are times when an adder is quite dangerous:
a. When it’s young– because he can’t control his venom.
b.When it’s shedding– because the eyes are scaled over, thus rendering him capable of only seeing shadows. Unable to distinguish friend from foe, he strikes at everything.

As soon as Uncle Tabs finished saying these words, something went off in my spirit. Right then and there I wrote down what he said verbatim. I was not sure how knowing this was going to be significant to my life until just recently.
This summer, I have had the distinct privilege of attending a Bible study hosted by my friend Melinda. She welcomed a group of ladies to sit and relax on her back porch while we dove into a deeper understanding of the armor of God. I will be honest, going to the study was pushing me out of my comfort zone. I went knowing only two of the attendees, which included Melinda. However, by the end, we had all become comfortable enough with each other that, by the last night, I was confessing things I would only tell my besties on my most vulnerable night.
I was not the only one. And as I listened to some beautifully honest ladies speak, that same feeling that hit me on the heath struck me there. I began to be able to unwrap what our Heavenly Father was wanting me to get back on the English countryside.

People can be like the adder.

We tend to be somewhat solitary creatures that are living our lives the best we know how. However, there are days we feel stepped on, or caught off guard and we lash out. Hard. This is a maneuver of self preservation; almost instinctual. Much like Simon Peter in John 18:10. It was not Peter’s plan to slice off the ear of the servant of the High Priest when they came to take Jesus away. But his way of life and what he loved was threatened, so he reacted. Jesus understood, but made it clear that that was not the right response–and he, instead, brought healing to the threat.

Also, like the young adder, our young people struggle with controlling their venom. They strike out at their parents, society, and each other with so much toxicity. I know because I heard the stories of the heartbroken mamas as they sat around the table on the back porch. I also have eyes and ears and have observed not only young people, but immature people as they justify verbally (or through social media) attacking one another. It is not a shock to me that suicide has risen in males 16% and females 45% since 1999, according to the CDC. I realize that many things have contributed to this rise, but when someone gets struck multiple times with venom they begin to break down.

In Acts 9, the Bible talks about Saul threatening and murdering the disciples of the Lord. He was completely blind to the awesomeness of knowing Christ. Until he shed that prejudice against them, the scripture literally says his eyes were scaled over. Like the adder during shedding, we too– like Saul– can see people or situations as shadows which cause us to be anxious and we strike at everything. In times like this our only hope is to ask God to remove our scales so that we can see things as they really are. A great example of this was shared by one of the ladies in my group. She described her caucasian father as racist. But as he aged, he started to shed those close minded ideas. At the end of his life, her father’s favorite nurse was a 6’4’ black man.

Don’t be like Indiana Jones (answer from our movie game) and hate the snakes, but be aware of the venom. If you are a person that is attacking people because you feel threatened. . . stop.

Your venom is toxic. And perhaps you are only seeing a shadow of the situation.

Start conversations. Be willing to let Jesus take the scales off your eyes and correct you and perform all around healing, like he did with Simon Peter’s strike.

Or perhaps you are the victim of an venomous assault. Seek help. Don’t Let it fester. It is a not a pain you have to live with forever. You can be healed.