I like to think I'm not so arrogant as to think that everyone should think as I do or act as I do. Hell, I've had friends who prayed to trees, believed that they should only eat foods that are white, and swore they still slept beside their late husband's spirit. 

It is fascinating to me what a buddhist monk could do, like sleep in an icy cave or even levitate. What about the ones that believed so deeply in their leader, they drank his Kool-Aid - literally. Everyone has a path and everyone should be free to go where the spirit takes them.

When I was young, I went to a Baptist church with a friend whose mother sometimes spontaneously spoke in tongues. This Methodist girl cringed a bit. I had never heard of such a thing. I remember asking my friend if her mother was possessed by the devil. It certainly sounded like it. 

Now, whether these odd word-like sounds mean anything is up for interpretation. Some say they are speaking an ancient language. I suspect if you recorded them and found patterns of sounds repeated, no matter who was saying them, you might be able to prove a real language.

I'd seen people dance and get hysterical, some say they were healed by a man who pushed their forehead, but this tongues had me regarding my friend's mother had me regarding her warily. Anypne who could go from normal language to looking far off and unrelateable with a bizarre chatter was someone a bit, well, unhinged. At least, that's how little girl me felt. No one had taught me this stuff, so I remained skeptical. To my friend, who grew up in this atmosphere, it was perfectly normal, even a desirable condition.

I came to find out later on that "glossolalia" is embraced by Pentecostals, Quakers, and some Methodist churches. 

Years later, I had a friend who was a classic New England Catholic. Her mother spoke tongues spontaneously, when we least expected it. I remember thinking, does her faith embrace that? In fact, many religions see the phenomenon, but none embrace it and perhaps encourage it like the "charismatic" sects.

A little research found that in Mark 16:17, it is said, "And these signs will follow those who believe… they will speak with new tongues."

Being the curious person I am, speaking in tongues led me to ponder those who handle snakes. 

Starting with the legality of handling poisonous snakes among parishoners, West Virginia is the only state that did not outlaw the practice. 

There are only a few small churches that harbor this practice. Once again, we go back to the Book of Mark mentioning handling serpents is one of the signs of those faithful to God. I suppose if you believe God will protect you because of your faith, it would be a serious test of your worthiness. Of course, so would jumping over the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle or scaling a high rise building with no ropes. If you have faith, you should be protected, right? 

Beyond the theatrics of snake handling, let's look at the faithful and their fates. So far, there's been about 100 deaths due to handling snakes. You know, God protects the faithful only so far. I suspect because of our freewill, good folks can die in car accidents, die of cancer, or any other mortal assault. There's no need to encourage it.

There are many more unusual ways to worship including faith healing, cremation to release the soul, and let's not forget the Hamtai tribe of Papua, New Guinea, who smoke their corpses into mummies that surround their area to watch them. 

It is an interesting voyage into the faithful. I am reminded of wiccan practitioners who lament that the media makes out witches to worship the devil, when there is no devil in the faith and that early witchcraft involved midwifery work, creating curatives to heal and guarding nature with reverence and gratitude. You can take a witch who believes you never control others fate and you never wish bad things upon others or it will return to you threefold, but then someone with a dark heart can cast bad spells. It's pretty much like the citizens of earth, you have your good, your bad, and your ugly. Sadly, we give up on mankind because of what the bad do. We seem to do the same with the faithful. 

We can't prove that anyone's faith is the correct form of spirituality or communion with God, but we can admit that the very act of faith is a handing over outcomes with humble gratitude.

Here's a little something I came up with that outlines it all -