Article July 6, 1987 ISSUE

For children

Talking snakes?

Linda Reyes Markwood

Marie likes snakes. She has a friend who took his pet snake to school for "show and tell." It had a nice color and seemed very peaceful in its cage.

Now, this snake didn't talk. "Why, of course, it didn't talk!" you might be saying. "Snakes can't talk!" And you're right. No real snake has ever said a word.

But the Bible has a story that teaches a lesson about a talking snake. In this story, when a woman called Eve believed that a snake could tell her something true, things went wrong. See Gen., chap. 3 . Once, Marie's Christian Science Sunday School class read this story. A talking snake reminded them of the way lies and a liar try to fool you. True thoughts—of peace, goodness, and health—make you smile. Lying thoughts —of hurt or sadness or disobedience—make you afraid. But a talking snake is a lie to begin with and couldn't tell the truth. So Marie and her friends said they could stop a lie by not believing in the liar.

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