Talking to the Alligators: Post for 9/23/2010

As you all know, today in class we participated in an activity that was a bit more unorthodox than usual. We went and sat by the alligator infested lake and read parts of the book of Joel out loud. I am not the most outgoing person in the world so it was a little strange to me. Some people yelled, others didn't say anything at all. I spoke out loud in a normal voice. I read through the scripture and spoke the passages out loud that had anything to do with the land, crops, or anything of that nature. The only exception was the statement, "Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness." That one I said to the alligators. When I spoke out loud to the grass about the field being ruined I thought to myself, "No! I don't want to speak this over this land!" We have the power of life and death in our tongues, correct? I know I was just being silly, but then I thought about how it would have looked if the grass really had died and turned brown. I thought about the lake and how it could be dried up. The alligators wouldn't live there anymore, if they were even still alive. It was definitely a depressing thought. Especially when you think of it all being on fire along with everything else that is going wrong. But then I get to the part when God promises them deliverance. It tells us that the pastures have turned green so the beasts are not to fear. The tree bears fruit again. The locusts stop eating everything. This was a much easier thing to speak out loud. I didn't mind speaking blessings over the land. I imagined that the lake was fuller. I could feel the grass under my feet while I was sitting and I was thankful it was still there. I think I even heard the alligators swimming in the weeds.