by Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J.
If I were a snake, I would feel excited to be the focus of this Lunar New Year. Everyone who celebrates the Lunar New Year will take this opportunity to speak well of us snakes, even using our name in their blessings. Though outside of the Year of the Snake, we are not as popular as some other auspicious zodiac animals. Maybe because we snakes are not seen as lovable or attractive as rabbits, dogs, chickens, horses, dragons, etc.
In fact, more humans are afraid of our poisonous kind as well as turned off by the negative portrayal of my kind in literature and the media. In fact, humans harbour very mixed feelings towards us snakes. Many Chinese sayings describe us as insidious, venomous, and cunning…. Seldom do people appreciate us except when they want to consume us so to fortify their health or certain organs. Autumn and winter seasons are dangerous times for my kind.
For the Christians, we snakes are not so favourably depicted either. The most famous image depicts the evil snake tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Then, Eve convinced her man, Adam, to consume it as well. The outcome was disastrous. Adam and Eve were thrown out of paradise, and from then on, all the snakes were cursed to have to crawl on our bellies and eat dust. Worst still, we officially became the enemy of humanity and the new Eve. Are all of us snakes so evil and condemnable? Are we not redeemable?
When my ancestor tempted the first Eve, the mother of humankind, she was free to believe in the snake or not. It was her own ambition to become as all-knowing as God that had led her to accept the temptation. The same should go for Adam when his woman, Eve, tried to convince him to adopt her choice. He was probably veering for the same ambition of pride. In addition, he might want to remain in Eve’s favour over God’s advice. Eve was more impinging on his consciousness and human needs than God. This is nothing unusual for humankind, really.
However, they needed to find someone to blame, attributing all their failures to some other external agents. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed my snake ancestor. Actually, I dare to say the man might have implicitly blamed God for creating a woman to be his companion, while the woman might, in turn, blame God for allowing a snake to tempt her. They simply refused to assume their own responsibilities. You humans, stop blaming us for misusing your own free will but learn to own your failings.
Fortunately, there are some positive mentions of snakes in the Christian bible, e.g., moulding a bronze snake and put it on a pole to bring healing to those Israelites bitten by poisonous snakes when they looked upon the hung snake. And Jesus told his disciples that they should be as simple as doves but as shrewd as snakes. And I think being shrewd is important for clergy and religious as they tend to readily put their trust in those pleasing individuals. Hence, they make themselves easy prey to those exploiters.
At least this saying of Jesus in the above is for a positive quality of us, snakes. Some consolation for us at the least. And thank God that Christmas is not just for humankind and their salvation. But also for the restoration of God’s Creation to their proper order and their renewed relationships with God and each other.
Nothing is obsolete in the eyes of the Creator, not even we snakes, for God creates everything with love and for life, not for death. I do not know where or if I will be in the kingdom of God as a snake, but I have hope in the One who has created me with love.
Now that the Lunar New Year has arrived, I hope humankind will be more shrewd and loving. Let them not be easily misled by hearsay and all those distorted news articles, but be shrewd in discerning what is real and what can bring them closer to the truth.
Last but not least, may all people lead a better life, which should include enhanced relationships with God, others, their good self, and the natural world. Only when they have these relationships in proper order that we snakes and other life forms in the natural world have a desirable future.
A blessed Year of the Snakes to you all!
+ Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J.
