Snakes on a Pole

In the readings for last Sunday was a passage that used to take me by surprise somewhat, Moses putting a snake on the pole at God's command for the people to look at while they were being bitten by poisonous snakes so that they would live and not die from the snake bite. In the view of the world this is just nuts, first off if there is a snake in the room I am definitely not taking my eyes off of it and secondly if I get bit by said snake my first instinct is to kill the thing and then second is to call 911. Okay so Moses and the Israelites didn't have 911, but still, it's hard to imagine someones dad or mom telling the little kid that just got bit to look at the snake on the pole and it will all be better. It's even harder to imagine the little kid being able to look away from the thing that hurts so bad, it's hard to imagine a mom or dad being able to look away from their child's wound or their own.

Mark's sermon this past Sunday equated the snakes to the problems that go on around us and in the end used a stanza from St. Patrick's Breastplate, in my head these go together perfectly and look like this:

Sometimes this world is scary
Christ be with me,

The thoughts whirl in my head of how much bad can happen
Christ within me,

The things in my past come back to haunt me,
Christ behind me,

The future is uncertain,
Christ before me,

Sometimes I'm lonely,
Christ beside me,

Even those closest to me don't always understand the hurts,
Christ to comfort and restore me,

I'm scared to fall into the pit of despair,
Christ beneath me,

The world is so huge, sometimes I feel lost and insignificant,
Christ above me,

In the still of the night the nagging worries can over take me,
Christ in quiet,

I'm scared,
Christ in danger,

I need to hear from someone that I know and trust that Christ forgiveness is real,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,

I need to know that I'm not alone in this world.
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.