My Charming Aochan

Anna - Christian Science Sentinel, Dec. 3, 2007

Ever since I was little, I’ve loved snakes. When I was four, a woman in front of us in a pet store check-out line was carrying a huge snake. I started petting it because it seemed to like me.

The woman turned and started to tell my mom to keep away because the snake supposedly didn’t like strangers. When she saw that her snake was enjoying my attention, she was speechless. After that experience, I began to want a snake of my own. To me, there is something fascinating about them. I think they are very beautiful, graceful, and loving. I’ve learned in Christian Science that everything God creates expresses good and beautiful qualities.

I’d been asking my mom for a snake for a while. A year and a half ago, she told me that if I learned about pet snakes and how to take care of one on my own, I could get one. After hours of research online, I learned that ball pythons are good snakes to have as pets because they are easy to care for and friendly. So my mom and I went to a snake breeder’s place to pick out a snake. I named the snake I got Aochan, after a snake in a Japanese zoo I’d read about.

In that story, the snake hadn’t been eating, so the keepers put a live guinea pig in the cage, hoping the snake would eat it. Instead, the two became friends. They began to share a tank, and even slept next to each other! I printed out a picture of them curled up together from my computer. I really liked that story because it showed that snakes can relate well to other animals and that they express spiritual qualities as God’s creations.

I love seeing the beauty that my snake, Aochan, expresses. His markings are interesting, and he even has one shaped like a heart! His face is intelligent and very sweet. And he loves being held. Sometimes he will nose at the top of the tank, wanting to be taken out. Right before I got him, my mom showed me Mary Baker Eddy’s description of a snake in Science and Health as “charming in its adroitness”(p. 515). Adroitness means showing cleverness or skill in figuring things out. I think that describes my snake really well.

One time, I had an opportunity to pray for my snake, using my understanding of Christian Science. Aochan had been with us for a couple of months when I started to get worried about his health. Ever since we got him, he hadn’t wanted to eat. Each week we would offer him food, and he never touched it. At first I wasn’t concerned, because I’d heard that snakes may fast for weeks on end. But as a young snake, Aochan should have been eating.

When his fast continued, I started hearing from other snake owners that this was a big problem. I wanted to pray about the situation, so I talked to my mom and also to my Sunday School teacher. They both reminded me that God loves and cares for all His creation. I looked in Science and Health for ideas that would help me get a clearer idea of Aochan as God’s creation. This passage, illustrating the divine source of health, was a big help:” Health is not a condition of matter, but of Mind; nor can the material senses bear reliable testimony on the subject of health”(p.120). As I prayed, I was learning to trust in God’s care for Aochan, and I soon felt confident that he was an expression of God’s qualities. I knew he was safe, and my feelings of worry went away. The next time I tried to feed him, he ate, and he has not had any problems since.

I’m glad I now have a better understanding of my snake as an expression of God’s loving nature. I’ve always thought that animals effortlessly express affection. They don’t hold grudges, and they’re always willing to love you back. I know that these qualities are spiritual. They show what God is like, and they come straight from Him.

Read what Anna’s mom thinks of Aochan…

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 8:37 am and is filed under Animals, Healing, Love. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.