Ken’s e-Pistle

October 4, 2023

Miss Vicki has a thing about snakes:  she hates them.  All manner and models of legless reptiles fall into her category of contempt.  I have told her on countless occasions that God created snakes and pronounced them good at the moment of creation.  In her heart-of-hearts she harbors the thought that, in this one instance, God may have made a mistake.  Confidentially, I feel the same way about tapioca pudding, but that is the subject for another missive.

Divine justice being what it is, we have had a visitation of snakes which I maintain is a test of her faith.  Both are harmless, bordering on beneficial.  The first is a 4 ft. black snake who courteously introduced himself to her on our porch while she was watering the plants.  Her reaction was predictable:  it took me a week to find the watering can out in the yard and I have ordered a piece of glass to repair the French door leading out to the porch.  I gently ushered the visitor to the yard where he seems to have taken up residence and is subsisting on a diet of mice, chipmunks and other assorted varmints.   Miss Vicki, for her part, has given a name to the snake:  Stompy.  It stands for Stay Off My Porch, You!

The second character in the visitation is a king snake of about 5 feet.  He made his appearance in the garage as we were preparing to go out on a grocery run.  Miss Vicki made a hasty retreat into the house while I encouraged him to patrol the perimeter of the property searching for ever-present copperheads and the occasional water moccasin.  Whenever we go out now, I pick up Miss Vicki at the front door.  She semi-affectionately refers to the king snake as BB.  BB King, get it?

For my part, I try to discern why God created all creatures.  The Shorter Catechism instructs us that all things are made for God’s glory.  Including snakes.  Still, there are a few of His critters I have a hard time figuring out how they glorify Him.  No-See-Ems at the beach come to mind.  Mosquitoes of every variety stagger the imagination.  Roaches present a challenge, also.  I’m sure that you can add your contributions to the list.  God tells us in His word that we should have faith in all of these things as they glorify Him.

He never said it would be easy!

I bid you peace!