Now I'm betting none of you have ever been around a fundamentalist "snake handling" church. They still exist up in the mountains & back when I was a kid, there were several of them. In fact, one of my dad's best friends was a minister at one. Wendall was a Vietnam veteran who barely made it home alive & it was his belief that God saved him to share his faith and his message.

But he wasn't pushy about it & he was more than willing to explain his beliefs. He also liked to show my Dad the better snakes that were brought iin for him to handle. And on occasion, Dad would catch one & take it to him. (If I saw Wendell coming towards the front door of our little store carring a burlap sack, I learned fast to hightail it out the back!!!!)

Now we're not talking about black snakes. Or rat snakes. Or even racers. He only handled rattlesnakes. The bigger the better.

His belief was based on a Bible verse that says something to the effect that true believers will pick up snakes with their hands. And taking that premise further, if you TRULY believed the snakes would not harm you.

Did he get bit every now & then? Yep. Darned snakes almost killed him a few times. And he explained that by saying that his faith just wasn't strong enough or that his faith had lapsed or that he let sinful thoughts interfere when he was handling.

I know my faith would never be that strong! We asked him to preach at my daddy's funeral (as long as he left the snakes at home) and he was glad to oblige.