First off, the awesome SCL post!!
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#725 - Wishing the snakes would quit biting
“What we’re really doing is turning him into a drug addict.”
That is my favorite sentence from a recent article about an escaped monkey loose in Tampa, Florida. Apparently, every time animal control hits this monkey with tranquilizer darts he just shrugs them off and keeps running around down town. He’s become a bit of a local celebrity and has his own facebook page, which lists one of his hobbies as “Messin’ with the popo.”
I love that about Florida. My brother lives there and is constantly telling me weird and wonderful facts about that state. For instance, did you know they have “exotic pet amnesty days?” What’s that you ask? I would love to tell you.
Florida has an issue with giant pythons. They now have tens of thousands of the large snakes in their ecosystem. One of the ways they get in the wild is that when they get too large, some pet owners simply release them into the swamps. There, in the perfect conditions, they grow to 15 feet and threaten all sorts of wildlife. So Florida started amnesty days where pet owners can turn in their exotic pets with no questions asked.
They should sell tickets to those events.
How great would it be to hear those conversations:
“Ahhh yeah, this is a little awkward, but I’ve got a Bengal tiger in back seat of my Kia and I’ll be darned, but the little guy doesn’t want to get out.”
Those interactions would be fantastic. I’m waiting for those events to become a reality show. Until they do though, I’ll just have to rely on my imagination and the odd one off stories I hear about giant pythons in Florida.
I tend to love snake stories and was actually a little surprised to find one in the Bible. It’s in the Old Testament, Numbers 21.
The Israelites are up to no good, continuing a 40-year grumble tour in the desert. And they are an interesting example of complaining because they pull out all the stops. I realized recently that their very first complaint after being saved from slavery was sarcasm. In Exodus 14:11, when the Egyptians are marching toward them, the Israelites ask Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?” Ha! I love that, such a dumb, mocking thing to say. “What, were there not enough graves in Egypt?”
But in Numbers, they’re complaining about the food, actually saying “We detest this miserable food!” That is stunning if you think about it. Imagine if a hostage from North Korea was freed and the first thing they said at the press conference was, “I’m glad to be freed, but the meal on the flight over here was really not up to my standards. Chicken was stringy and the peppercorn sauce lacked pizzazz. It was kind of gross.”
That would be ridiculous, but it’s what the Israelites do, so in verse 6 God says, “Oh yeah, how about some venomous snakes then?” That’s not a direct quote, but you get the gist. Suddenly, it’s like Snakes on a Plane up in that mug. (I’m not sure what that last sentence meant but it felt right.) A bunch of folks start dying, things get crazy and in the midst of that the people pray “that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.”
But God doesn’t, instead he has Moses create a bronze snake on a pole. Whenever the Israelites get bitten, they can look at it and be healed.
Let’s repeat that key idea, God doesn’t take the snakes away.
The biting continues.
The pain proceeds.
Has that ever happened to you?
Has there ever been a situation in your life that you prayed God would remove or fix or solve? He wanted a divorce, you didn’t. Your job is miserable. Your family is fractured. You can’t stop looking at porn over and over again. There are snakes in your bed.
And so you pray to God that he will remove them.
But he doesn’t.
Why?
I’m not sure. In all honesty, I’m just some blogger prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love. But I have an idea. I think God doesn’t remove the snakes because:
God doesn’t give us solutions, he gives us a savior.
A lot of the time, I wish it was the other way around. To be honest with you, sometimes a solution feels more manageable. I can control and understand a solution. I can bend and tweak a formula to my own needs. Christ on the other hand, our savior, isn’t like that at all.
He’s messy. And counterintuitive and uncontrollable. Grace and mercy are two of the most puzzling things on the planet. They’re raw and unbridled and out of control and intertwined with love we can’t possibly understand or earn.
The Israelites wanted a solution. A solution that would remove their snakes. Instead they got a savior in God, the great healer, and the snakes kept biting.
The snakes will come for you. I wish they wouldn’t but they will. My hope for you and for me, is that in moments of poison and pain, hope and happiness, we’ll look for a savior, not a solution.
---
Then we have the awesome article that we received for TOK lessons!!
ITS HIGH LEVEL SKILL OK SERIOUSLY OMIGOSH. THIS ARTICLE IS SO EPIC THAT IS HAS A WIKIPEDIA PAGE DEDICATED TO IT!! ITS LIKE 50 YEARS OLD LOL!!
GO READ IT!!
Its quite long and may take some time, but its worth it.
http://web.archive.org/web/20061004083040/http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/bodyrit.pdf
Alright once you're done and only once you're done with the entire article, then highlight the space below this. DO NOT highlight this bottom part prematurely it only serves to spoil your own experience.
Ready?
Oh my were you bored by that article? Felt that it was quite stupid and you're confused about what kind of weird tribe that is? Wondering how I could find something like this so interesting?
Spell Nacirema backwards.
...
...
...
...
...
SATIRE TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE YOU KNOW!! OMIGOSH THE ENTIRE CLASS GOT OWNED BY THIS ARTICLE!!
Seriously we were like 'wth what is this weird tribe' until the tutor revealed it to us. ALL THE RITUALS AND EVERYTHING IS A PARODY OF WHAT WE AS PEOPLE ACTUALLY REALLY DO!!
"the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures"
HAHAHAHAHA!!
Its really really good. Oh man.
=)
---
#725 - Wishing the snakes would quit biting
“What we’re really doing is turning him into a drug addict.”
That is my favorite sentence from a recent article about an escaped monkey loose in Tampa, Florida. Apparently, every time animal control hits this monkey with tranquilizer darts he just shrugs them off and keeps running around down town. He’s become a bit of a local celebrity and has his own facebook page, which lists one of his hobbies as “Messin’ with the popo.”
I love that about Florida. My brother lives there and is constantly telling me weird and wonderful facts about that state. For instance, did you know they have “exotic pet amnesty days?” What’s that you ask? I would love to tell you.
Florida has an issue with giant pythons. They now have tens of thousands of the large snakes in their ecosystem. One of the ways they get in the wild is that when they get too large, some pet owners simply release them into the swamps. There, in the perfect conditions, they grow to 15 feet and threaten all sorts of wildlife. So Florida started amnesty days where pet owners can turn in their exotic pets with no questions asked.
They should sell tickets to those events.
How great would it be to hear those conversations:
“Ahhh yeah, this is a little awkward, but I’ve got a Bengal tiger in back seat of my Kia and I’ll be darned, but the little guy doesn’t want to get out.”
Those interactions would be fantastic. I’m waiting for those events to become a reality show. Until they do though, I’ll just have to rely on my imagination and the odd one off stories I hear about giant pythons in Florida.
I tend to love snake stories and was actually a little surprised to find one in the Bible. It’s in the Old Testament, Numbers 21.
The Israelites are up to no good, continuing a 40-year grumble tour in the desert. And they are an interesting example of complaining because they pull out all the stops. I realized recently that their very first complaint after being saved from slavery was sarcasm. In Exodus 14:11, when the Egyptians are marching toward them, the Israelites ask Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?” Ha! I love that, such a dumb, mocking thing to say. “What, were there not enough graves in Egypt?”
But in Numbers, they’re complaining about the food, actually saying “We detest this miserable food!” That is stunning if you think about it. Imagine if a hostage from North Korea was freed and the first thing they said at the press conference was, “I’m glad to be freed, but the meal on the flight over here was really not up to my standards. Chicken was stringy and the peppercorn sauce lacked pizzazz. It was kind of gross.”
That would be ridiculous, but it’s what the Israelites do, so in verse 6 God says, “Oh yeah, how about some venomous snakes then?” That’s not a direct quote, but you get the gist. Suddenly, it’s like Snakes on a Plane up in that mug. (I’m not sure what that last sentence meant but it felt right.) A bunch of folks start dying, things get crazy and in the midst of that the people pray “that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.”
But God doesn’t, instead he has Moses create a bronze snake on a pole. Whenever the Israelites get bitten, they can look at it and be healed.
Let’s repeat that key idea, God doesn’t take the snakes away.
The biting continues.
The pain proceeds.
Has that ever happened to you?
Has there ever been a situation in your life that you prayed God would remove or fix or solve? He wanted a divorce, you didn’t. Your job is miserable. Your family is fractured. You can’t stop looking at porn over and over again. There are snakes in your bed.
And so you pray to God that he will remove them.
But he doesn’t.
Why?
I’m not sure. In all honesty, I’m just some blogger prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love. But I have an idea. I think God doesn’t remove the snakes because:
God doesn’t give us solutions, he gives us a savior.
A lot of the time, I wish it was the other way around. To be honest with you, sometimes a solution feels more manageable. I can control and understand a solution. I can bend and tweak a formula to my own needs. Christ on the other hand, our savior, isn’t like that at all.
He’s messy. And counterintuitive and uncontrollable. Grace and mercy are two of the most puzzling things on the planet. They’re raw and unbridled and out of control and intertwined with love we can’t possibly understand or earn.
The Israelites wanted a solution. A solution that would remove their snakes. Instead they got a savior in God, the great healer, and the snakes kept biting.
The snakes will come for you. I wish they wouldn’t but they will. My hope for you and for me, is that in moments of poison and pain, hope and happiness, we’ll look for a savior, not a solution.
---
Then we have the awesome article that we received for TOK lessons!!
ITS HIGH LEVEL SKILL OK SERIOUSLY OMIGOSH. THIS ARTICLE IS SO EPIC THAT IS HAS A WIKIPEDIA PAGE DEDICATED TO IT!! ITS LIKE 50 YEARS OLD LOL!!
GO READ IT!!
Its quite long and may take some time, but its worth it.
http://web.archive.org/web/20061004083040/http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/bodyrit.pdf
Alright once you're done and only once you're done with the entire article, then highlight the space below this. DO NOT highlight this bottom part prematurely it only serves to spoil your own experience.
Ready?
Oh my were you bored by that article? Felt that it was quite stupid and you're confused about what kind of weird tribe that is? Wondering how I could find something like this so interesting?
Spell Nacirema backwards.
...
...
...
...
...
SATIRE TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE YOU KNOW!! OMIGOSH THE ENTIRE CLASS GOT OWNED BY THIS ARTICLE!!
Seriously we were like 'wth what is this weird tribe' until the tutor revealed it to us. ALL THE RITUALS AND EVERYTHING IS A PARODY OF WHAT WE AS PEOPLE ACTUALLY REALLY DO!!
"the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures"
HAHAHAHAHA!!
Its really really good. Oh man.
=)