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The Asphalt Snake
Jul. 6th, 2011 09:29 pmThere was this snake, you see. I found him, or her. Underneath a bucket soaked in asphalt, sunk quite well into it. This isn't the type of asphalt that goes onto your roadway - it's the type of unaltered asphalt straight after refining - it never sets up, and as it gets warm outside, it's not hard to sink into it. It's a lot more like tar.
I felt terrible for it. It was just a tiny, fragile snake - it has it's part to play in the world, and I tried to do everything i could for it. First I managed to get it out of the five pound chunk of asphalt it had sunk into...but you see, the asphalt sticks to everything. It was sticking over his or her entire body - most depressingly, the bottom...which allows for her (we'll just say her from now on) locomotion.
I spent a good half hour trying to gently pull off as much asphalt as I could without hurting her...and then I had to go on break. When I came back, she hadn't moved. She was still tasting the air with her tongue, and squirming slightly...but I knew she didn't have long. I tried further to help her out - taking more off, putting her in the sun so it would be easier to pull off without harm. But shortly she opened her mouth for one last yawn, maybe...or a gasp for breath as if she were human...and all movement ceased.
I am very fixated on this snake. I recognize that maybe God perceives us in similar ways - over time we collect suffering, damage, baggage we can't get rid of...and even if he helps us out, ultimately we succumb to it...or to old age...or to any number of terrible occurrences. The fact is, the asphalt snake didn't deserve her fate. Whether she was put there by an asshole down at the refinery, or she slithered in because she thought it was a secure spot to hide...it was her undoing. And there was nothing I could do...being of the most intelligent race on the planet...to save her. There's no reactive substances that wouldn't have outright killed her...and ultimately I couldn't get all of the asphalt off without hurting her severely.
But the moral of the story is, we don't deserve any of the terrible things that happen to us. We don't deserve to be ugly, stupid, unsociable, unlikable...poor, depressed, unloved...disabled...we don't deserve to be hurt. But it happens. And eventually, we will all die. It doesn't matter what we do, who helps us. It doesn't matter who loves us, how many children we have. We will suffer. And we will perish.
Mother nature is probably the best teacher of all. Even though the asphalt snake has passed away, she taught me a lesson I really needed right now. Nothing matters except for me to try my best to enjoy this life. If I can't enjoy it in all the ways I wish I could, then I simply have to enjoy it in the ways that I am capable of. If I'm undeserving of affection or love, then that's simply the case. If I'm undeserving of fame and fortune, then that is simply the case. It is still better than being stuck in asphalt, and having even a God relatively speaking fail to save you from it.
I felt terrible for it. It was just a tiny, fragile snake - it has it's part to play in the world, and I tried to do everything i could for it. First I managed to get it out of the five pound chunk of asphalt it had sunk into...but you see, the asphalt sticks to everything. It was sticking over his or her entire body - most depressingly, the bottom...which allows for her (we'll just say her from now on) locomotion.
I spent a good half hour trying to gently pull off as much asphalt as I could without hurting her...and then I had to go on break. When I came back, she hadn't moved. She was still tasting the air with her tongue, and squirming slightly...but I knew she didn't have long. I tried further to help her out - taking more off, putting her in the sun so it would be easier to pull off without harm. But shortly she opened her mouth for one last yawn, maybe...or a gasp for breath as if she were human...and all movement ceased.
I am very fixated on this snake. I recognize that maybe God perceives us in similar ways - over time we collect suffering, damage, baggage we can't get rid of...and even if he helps us out, ultimately we succumb to it...or to old age...or to any number of terrible occurrences. The fact is, the asphalt snake didn't deserve her fate. Whether she was put there by an asshole down at the refinery, or she slithered in because she thought it was a secure spot to hide...it was her undoing. And there was nothing I could do...being of the most intelligent race on the planet...to save her. There's no reactive substances that wouldn't have outright killed her...and ultimately I couldn't get all of the asphalt off without hurting her severely.
But the moral of the story is, we don't deserve any of the terrible things that happen to us. We don't deserve to be ugly, stupid, unsociable, unlikable...poor, depressed, unloved...disabled...we don't deserve to be hurt. But it happens. And eventually, we will all die. It doesn't matter what we do, who helps us. It doesn't matter who loves us, how many children we have. We will suffer. And we will perish.
Mother nature is probably the best teacher of all. Even though the asphalt snake has passed away, she taught me a lesson I really needed right now. Nothing matters except for me to try my best to enjoy this life. If I can't enjoy it in all the ways I wish I could, then I simply have to enjoy it in the ways that I am capable of. If I'm undeserving of affection or love, then that's simply the case. If I'm undeserving of fame and fortune, then that is simply the case. It is still better than being stuck in asphalt, and having even a God relatively speaking fail to save you from it.
