On snake-dance day, which ends the seasonal ceremonies, the priests of the snake clan put on their regalia and daub themselves with colored mud and ashes. These handle the snakes. Members of another totem-clan don their costumes and prepare their drums and gourd rattles to provide the dance rhythms and chants. As the dance begins, each snake priest grasps a snake, places it be tween his lips, and proceeds to dance around the plaza to the throbbing of the drums. An assistant, known as the “hugger” , who is usually a teen- aged initiate, dances beside the priest and strokes the head of the snake with a wand of sacred feathers. After each snake has been “ danced” , it is placed in a circular space in the plaza where a priest known as the “ gatherer” , with the aid of the women and children, keeps the accumulating mass of writh ing reptiles from escaping. Here they are again sprinkled with sacred corn meal. When the dance is finished and all of the snakes have been “ danced” , each of the snake priests dashes into the circle and grasps as many of the writhing snakes as he can in his two hands and runs down the rocky trail to the desert below and releases them in the four directions, where they are instructed to carry their message back to the spirit world. The priests then run back to the mesa top and com plete the ceremonial rites in the un derground kiva. The snake cult has persisted in one form or another throughout the his tory of man’s religions, and any in telligent Christian will recognize it as Satan worship, and dating from the Old Serpent, the devil, who visited the Garden of Eden. The hatred of the tribal priests for the missionaries and native believers demonstrates this re lationship. Mennonite missionaries have con tinued their work among the Hopis since the turn of the century. The work has always been discouraging because the tribal priests will not tol erate the presence of witnessing be lievers of the tribe in the native vil lages. Many of those who have been saved have left the reservation and become town dwellers. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Jona than and Molly Ekstrom, are far along towards the completion of the New Testament in Hopi and are do ing valuable linguistic work in the Hopi village of Moenkopie which is a distance removed from the main part of the reservation. Pray for these soldiers of the cross and for Hopi Christians to study to become witnesses in the home villag es.
Today? Perhaps! Perhaps today! The Lord may come and catch away H is ransomed Church, H is blood-bought bride T o take her place at H is blest side; When dead and living saints shall share One trumpet summons to the air. Perhaps today! Yes! H e may come A n d call us to our Heavenly Home— That wondrous place beyond compare W hich He, in love, doth now prepare; Our Father's house! How sweet, how blest, To be for evermore at rest. Today? Perhaps! 'T is true! Today! Ere nightfall we may be away; Transported home! How blest, how grand! Transported home to gloryland! One tw inkling moment, then to be W ith H im for all eternity. Perhaps today! Then why the fear? Tomorrow we may not be here! The thing so dreaded may not come T ill we are safely gathered home! The threat'ning storm-cloud may not break T ill, in H is presence, we awake. Perhaps today! Oh, lonely soul, Thy heart shall reach its longed-for goal; The fellowship, the joy, the bliss, W hich now thy heart doth sorely miss, Perchance m^y be thy heart's delight Ere closes in another night. Perhaps today! Then much-tried saint, Look up, nor let thy spirit faint; The stretching road thine eyes may see M ay never be traversed by thee— One moment's space and then above, T o find thyself in cloudless love! Perhaps today, afflicted life, Thou shalt be taken from the strife; From all that hatred to thy word W hich comes as thou dost please thy Lord.
A n d then, ah then, how small the pain Compared with all thou then shalt gain. Perhaps today the fight w ill cease, A n d then— eternal, wondrous peace! The evil hosts which rage and roar Shall reach us there? No, nevermore! Oh blessed hope, to then be free For ever through eternity. W e 'll meet again— perhaps today, The dear ones who have passed away, The loved ones who now softly sleep, Whom Jesus now doth safely keep; Oh wondrous joy to meet them there A t that blest union in the air! Perhaps today the chains which bind, W hich fetter feet and hands and mind, Shall all be snapped, and we shall be Like uncaged eagles— boundless free; A n d upward sw iftly shall we soar To be with Christ for evermore. Perhaps today this mortal frame W ith all enfeebled nature's claim Shall be exchanged, and we shall own a 'tem ple' where shall not be known A sense o f weakness or decay, O r strength that surely ebbs away. Perhaps today we all shall stand A t Christ's tribunal— wondrous grand; There gathered through redeeming love; A ll ransomed, yet to have H im prove Life 's service; and to gain reward, Where life or labour pleased the Lord. Perhaps today! H e'll come most sure, This hope He means to keep us pure! To have us watching, ready, free, ntrammelled with iniquity: That we may meet H im w ithout shame, O r conscious sense of g u ilt or blame. Today perhaps! Perhaps today! Yes, He may come! Then watch and pray! T his 'Blessed Hope' keep much in view; N or deem it dead though taught by few. A n d be as urgent as you may In w inning souls, while 'tis 'Today.' — J. Danson Smith
SEPTEMBER, 1962
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