(Continued from page 5)

• So, I ask my host what the basket was next to the pulpit.
• "That's where we keep the rattlesnake," he said rather passively.
• "Say what!"
• "That basket there is where we keep the rattlesnake that we use in our service."
• I can take a joke and give it joke back with the best of them. I responded with a hearty laugh.
• "Ha, Ha, Ha," I said good-naturedly. "Really, what is that basket for?"
• I could see my host was not the least bit amused with my persistent inquiry.
• "I said," he said rather sternly, "that's where we keep our rattlesnake for our church service."
• He then stared at me for a few moments and then said, "I don't think we'll need it in our service today. You don't look like you have enough faith."
• Inside me, I sighed a deep sigh of relief. There is a time when I want to bolster my faith, but in the circumstance before me, I did not want enough faith to handle some rattlesnake. One of the tenants of my religion is to run as fast as I can away from any and all rattlesnakes. It is one part of my religion I take rather seriously.
• My host tried explaining to me what was going on. He pointed to a passage in Mark 16:17-18 (KJV) , "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
• My first reaction was to think he was pulling the wool over my eyes, so to speak,

(Continued on page 7)