Conversations with a Snake

As she walked through the garden, the aroma of hyacinth tickled her nose. It was one of her favorite scents, and she smiled as she received it. Her bare feet touched the soft grass and she took her time, absorbing the sights and sensations of what was around her. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to be.

"Hello," a voice said, and she stopped, looking around. She recognized the voice, though she did not yet see its owner. He had spoken to her many times over the past few months, and though at first he had seemed distasteful, she had grown accustomed to him. He wasn't so bad after all.

"Hello," she said, spotting him at last. He dangled lazily from a branch above her head, flicking his tongue in and out, perhaps tasting the same scents in the air that she observed. 

"Where are you going?" he asked her, his voice melodic and calming. 

"Nowhere in particular," she said. "I should get home before the sun goes down, but that's hours away, yet." 

"Oh? That's too bad. I would've thought you'd have been part of the meeting on the East side of the river today."

"No, I'm not needed there. I have other business to attend to, but that's to be taken care of tomorrow." 

"You're not important enough for this meeting," the snake agreed. His voice was sure, almost comforting in its confirmation. 

"That's... that's not what I said," she responded, though now she was confused. 

"Oh? Of course not," the doubt in his words was palpable. "I hope you enjoy all of your free time," he said, slithering away. 

***

She had just come from the sycamore grove in the West. She was taking the long way home, better to enjoy the whistling of the wind that had come up after she had taken care of the squirrels that had needed tending. She loved the way the wind gently caressed her face and blew through her hair.

"Hello," the voice said. "What are you doing?" 

"Coming home from the sycamore grove," she responded indifferently. The snake sidled up to her as she continued her walk home. 

"Did you enjoy your work there?" 

"Yes, I found it quite invigorating," she responded, a challenge in her voice.

"Of course. It must be nice to find so much pleasure in the work you do, to not care about other foolish things like appearance." 

"Appearance?" she asked. 

"You know, your work seems so important, it doesn't really matter that your hair is windblown and you've got dirt on your nose. Very admirable not to care what you look like." 

"I... right, very admirable," she said, wiping at her nose. 

"Have a nice walk home!" 

***

She was eating an orange by the spring, watching the newborn lambs leap and frolic in the fields in the hills beyond. She loved the way the orange tasted, sweet and tangy at the same time. The bite of the tang was the perfect complement to the crisp, cool water that the stream provided.

"Hello," a voice said. 

"Hello," she responded, eating another slice of the orange.

"Is that good?" the snake asked.

"Yes! It's amazing how one fruit can hold so many seemingly opposing flavors at once!" 

"Oh, really? That's nice. I've never had one personally. I've always been told that there weren't enough for me whenever I've gone to the orange grove."

"Not enough! There's always enough! We have a Provider, after all!"

"Oh? That must be nice to think that you will always have oranges to eat and cool water to drink. Come to think of it, everything really rests on this idea that your Provider will always be there for you, doesn't it?"

"Yes!"

"Yes, yes. Everything is in His hands, isn't it? Your food, drink, shelter, happiness. It's so good that He shares it all with you. How nice that He always feels like sharing. Wouldn't it be dreadful if He suddenly changed His mind?"

"He would never..."

"Oh, of course not. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying... I've never tasted an orange." 

***

Her songs harmonized perfectly with the birds, and though they had no words, they expressed the joy she felt inside. The frogs and crickets hummed along as well, providing a nice backdrop. Even the wind seemed to be involved in the symphony, and the acorns fell off of the oak trees in just the right time to provide the rhythm.

"Hello," his voice was a dissonant note in the orchestra.

"Hello," she responded, stopping her singing. 

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Singing praise!" she responded with a laugh.

"Oh, that's nice. How nice that you're all working together to sing praise," the snake responded. 

"Yes!" she agreed.

"I mean, it's wonderful how you all work together, letting everyone have their part, even if they don't do such a good job." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, the frogs are a little off sync, don't you think?" he said. The indignant croak from the stream went unnoticed. "And the wind comes in too strong sometimes. Of course, you can't all be in perfect harmony. After all, you're each so different and so diverse. Birds, crickets, humans... I guess you do the best job that you can working together when you're all so different." 

"Yes... the best we can," she agreed. 

***

"You're never with him anymore," the snake said to her one day.

"I am," she said.

"I never see you together."

"He's busy just now," she responded. "He has a lot of responsibility."

"I thought that's what you were for," the snake hissed. "To help him. A help-mate?" 

"Oh, yes! I help him all the time!"

"Right, like right now?"

"Just because we're not doing something together right now doesn't mean I'm not being his help-mate."

"Oh, sure, sure. I mean, sometimes you can be the most helpful just by staying out of the way..."

***

"Do you think He really loves you?"

"Of course He does!"

"But I mean, does He really love you? How do you know."

"Well, He created us. He provides for us. He gave us this whole Garden to live and produce and play in. He gave us all of the food, water, shelter we need. He supports us and gives us each other. He even  tells us He loves us."

"Oh? And His Word is so truthful. He never lies?"

"Lies? What's lies?"

"You know, when you say something is going to happen if you do something and then it doesn't really happen."

"I've never heard of that. What's that?"

"Oh, like if I say that I will give you an apple if you give me an orange and then I don't give you an apple."

"Why would you do that?" 

"That's lying. If someone doesn't want you to know something, they lie to you. Like if someone doesn't really love you, but they don't want you to know they don't love you."

"Why would they do that?"

"Well, you do all the work here, taking care of this Garden. Maybe He is afraid if you knew He didn't love you, you'd stop tending the Garden." 

"Oh, no. We tend the Garden out of love for Him and because the Garden needs to be tended if it is to produce the fruit that we need to stay alive. It's from the Garden that He has provided for us. It's where we get our food and water."

"Oh? The fruit all comes from the Garden?"

"Oh yes! There are countless trees, bushes, plants that we can take from and gather and eat." 

"Oh? And you can eat from every tree and bush and He just lets you have all the fruit just like that?"

"Yes... well, there is one tree we must never eat from. It's a big old tree in the middle of the Garden. But the fruit of every other tree is ours for the taking." 

"Oh? Why can't you eat from that tree?"

"He said if we did, we would surely die." 

"Oh? Did He really say that? Why would He say that?"

"Well, He loves us and wants to keep us safe from the harm that would come from eating of that tree."

"Oh really? How interesting. So you tend this whole garden and you can't even eat of all its fruits?"

"We can... just not from that tree." 

"Let's go see what's so special about that tree. Have you ever really looked at it?"

"Not really. If I can't eat from it, what's the point of looking at it. It's none of my business." 

"Well, then," the snake said, "you'll never know what you're missing." And before she knew it, he was running off into the Garden. She hesitated just a moment before following him.

She stopped in the clearing in the middle of the Garden and she really looked at that tree for the first time. The leaves were large, but the fruit was larger. It was beautiful! For some reason, the fruit looked like it would taste better than any other fruit in the Garden. Her mouth watered at the very sight of the laden branches. 

"I can't believe He wouldn't want to share that with you," the snake said. "I thought you said He loved you." 

"He does love us! He gave us this whole garden and He gave us stewardship over all of it. We can plant the trees anywhere we want. We can command the beasts to live in certain areas. We can even take of the fruit and eat. And He walks with us and talks to us in the cool of the day. All He has he shares with us."

"Well," the snake said, looking pointedly at the tree, "not all He has." 

"Everything but that!" she cried. 

"Yes, and why wouldn't He share that with you?" the snake queried, "Did He really say that you would be like Him if you ate of that fruit? I mean, think of it! You would know good from evil, right and wrong! He doesn't want that for you. He doesn't want to share that with you. What is He afraid of?" 

"He said that we would die," she whispered. "He only wants to protect us." Her face was wet. She wasn't sure why. "I mean...He... He does love us. He just... there must be a reason."

"You know, if you ate the fruit from that tree, you would know the reason. Then you'd be as wise as He is. You could know His heart and mind." 

"Yes," she sniffed, "maybe it would help me understand better... knowing good and evil." 

"You'd know for sure. You'd be like Him," the snake agreed calmly. 

"But... didn't I already know? I thought..."

"You thought? You thought? But you don't seem to know now... you look a little confused, dear. Why don't you just... wipe all that confusion away. I'm sure you won't really die. Just take a little bite and you'll feel better. Besides, see how good it looks?" 

"It does look so good."

"So good to eat."