Gentle as a Dove

...and wise as a serpent. I'm direct and honest. My husband is sensitive and easily wounded. This morning I was thinking that one of us must change to survive this marriage so I thought about the verse that says, "...gentle as a dove and wise as a serpent."

My research tells me that doves have many enemies and build their nests in such a way that they appear to be stupid. The one redeeming quality is that they seem to be very good parents and share the burden equally. I remember watching the doves that were nesting on our portico and when they were both there for shift change, they were very patient; the dove that recently arrived would wait for some time before the bird on the nest would get up and leave. Maybe they were bringing each other up to speed about the cats in the neighborhood, or the status of their nestlings.

So my conclusion is that doves are patient and kind to their family. I realize that I'm ascribing human characteristics to the doves, but hey, I'm trying to apply something here.

Anyway, a serpent seems to be influenced by many things: temperature, solar radiation, wind, humidity, time of day, and season. If the moon is out at night, a snake moves around less-assuming that snakes know that their prey can see them. They have no ears and pick up vibrations with the tactile receptors on their skin. Gathering data with it's senses it modifies it's behavior accordingly. When a predator is around, it will even change it's movements to avoid being a meal.

Snakes are little scientists gathering data before they do anything and modifying their behavior to suit the situation. Have you noticed that these much maligned characters appear to always be smiling?

I guess I am to be patient and kind to my family- yet smart enough to take the 'temperature' of the environment I'm in before I do anything....oh..yes, and smile and carry a rattle.

What do you think?