Enmity

Enmity. Although I’ve known this word seemingly forever, I don’t ever remember having an opportunity to use it. As some of you scholars may have deducted, my thoughts start with a lady. In fact, everything unfolded the other day with a pleasant afternoon stroll with my bride of forty years. What a delightful treat. I carefully allowed her to lead as we chatted so I could match her strides and not be accused on leaving her behind. We strolled about a half a mile down the road from our home checking out heifers, roses, potato plants, pigeons, a babbling stream, and finally a placid several acre pond. What a joy until we got half way around the algae covered pond. My wife stopped her conversation in mid sentence and abruptly retreated behind me as a large water snake slithered to the safety of the water. Our conversation was subdued and our eyes peeled until we got back onto the safety of the macadam road.
Although the water snake was perhaps more anxious to get away from us than we were from it, it brought back many memories. The first was wading as a barefoot young boy behind my father who was fishing in the rapids of a trout stream. Everything happened so quickly. Things failed to immediately register with me as my father turned and shot something swimming rapidly toward me. Dad was quite a marksman and had shot a huge fat water snake. It turned out that water snakes aren’t usually fat but this one had ingested a seven inch trout headfirst. (Ironically, Dad caught nothing that day.) Later on another outing, he performed similar marksmanship with a copperhead snake that my sister had disturbed as she traipsed through the woods.
I have had few encounters with snakes since, other than disturbing a Cobra in the moonlight one night in Viet Nam and a few other encounters. I became aware of how fortunate we are in this climate when an African friend while we were sitting in our yard kept looking into the branches of trees above our heads. Yes, he was amazed we could sit under trees without worrying about snakes above us. I also became temporarily mindful in India when a friend’s father told me about the big snake he had killed that morning in the water next to where we were standing. I am not sure if I would have been comfortable with any open water baptisms or bathing after that.
In reflection, I am amazed how much enmity (as the Bible words it) there is in most of us for snakes. We not only don’t want to be anywhere close to them; we normally want them deposed of in a rapid manner. Research indicates that the majority of snakes actually will do anything they can to avoid us but these facts seem to have no bearing on our feelings.
Perhaps more amazing is how little fear I have of many other things that have proven detrimental effects—some even fatal. I flirt with them with false illusions of Superman-like immunity from their deadly deceptions. As I take time to reflect, I realize the “Kryptonite-like” effect so many things have on my body, mind, and spirit. I almost wish they all slithered and, as such, would possibly instill natural enmity. Guess I’ll just have to take responsibility to build and abide by my own personal “do not mess with” list. Perhaps beginning with proven lists from the ages would be a great starting point.