Last weekend I got to rake out my flowerbeds since the weather decided to cooperate. I’m always amazed how no matter how much you try and clean your yard before winter after the snow melts there always seems to be a mess. (I’m sure there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.) As I was reaching to rake under a large, low bush that we have in the backyard, my mind flashed to a time a few years back when I was performing the same task and I lifted the same branch and there it was…a tiny snake. Probably just a gardener snake or whatever we called them as kids, nothing to big, but a snake none the less.Now, I wouldn’t say I’m exactly deathly afraid of snakes. I don’t get Indiana Jones tremors when I see them. But let’s just say one time while golfing and almost stepping on one while looking for a ball (I know it’s hard to believe I was off the fairway. Must have been an off day.) upon seeing my jumpy reaction my friend Jim made it his personal goal to find another snake and try and throw it on me. So I guess, I’m a little afraid of snakes.
Back to last weekend. As my hand moved toward the branch. I hesitated. Not really stopping; just thinking. “What if there’s another snake?” Of course, there wasn’t. Just leaves. But this little hesitation made me wonder how often we’re afraid to go somewhere, talk to someone, look a person in eye, because of something that happened in the past. It made me think about how gripping fear can be. Fear of little stupid snake. Fear of a person who rejected you. Fear of a past failure at work or with a friend. And sometimes we push through fear. We lift the branch and move on. But it’s that hesitation. Why do we have to hesitate?
The answer of course...is that we don't have to hesitate. A pure heart and clean hands move without hesitation. Remember that the next time you need to lift a branch.
