Advent 2: A Way in the Wilderness

Creating our Spiritual Legacy

It never fails that when I post a picture of a snake on social media, someone comes along to comment and tell me how much they fear or hate snakes. Beyond wondering why such people don’t keep scrolling–after all, I wouldn’t have posted the picture if I didn’t like it–one such interaction recently made me pause. 

I’d posted a picture of a copperhead from the nashville zoo because the snake was awake and up against the glass, watching passersby from one intricately colored eye. I was able to get a decent picture through the glass from mere inches away, something I’ll never achieve with my phone in the wild as one ought to maintain a respectful distance from venomous snakes. 

After someone had come along and commented on their hatred of all snakes, I reminded them of snakes' essential role in the ecosystem and invited them to zoom in on the snake's eye and appreciate how cool the coloration and vein pattern was. This invitation is really without risk as this is a picture of a snake that ca…