I’d Like That with a Side of Snail Mucus, Please
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””
Let’s talk snail mucus. Bet you’ve never heard that in a devotion before. Go back to 1,200 B.C., when the Greek civilization was going through its Dark Ages. The Phoenicians were the new power on the Mediterranean block at that time. The Phoenicians developed excellent naval skills and dynamic ships. They used their fleet to create trade stations throughout the Mediterranean and were one of the first fleets to enter the Atlantic Ocean and open trade along the West African coast.
Such a vast trade route provided the Phoenicians opportunities to receive oils, textiles, jewelry, along with valuable items like tin, copper, silver, gold, and most valuable, the murex snail. The mucus from the murex snail produces unique purple color used in dyes for clothing. The purple color became known as the color of royalty for its uniqueness and high price. Just dyeing the trim of a garment in the snails’ purple required the secretions of 12,000 snails. In his intriguing book Metropolis, Ben Wilson points out, “An ounce of the stuff was worth at least twenty times more than an ounce of gold.”
The world’s royalty and high priests were tripping over themselves to purchase the snail mucus. The snail mucus creates a purple shade became a must-have status symbol. Because of snail mucus, purple became the color of royalty. Ironically, the Christian Church embraced purple as a symbol of Jesus’ majesty. Therefore, the Church has used purple in its paraments for Advent, confirming the birth of Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. Purple paraments are put up again during lent, reminding the faithful that even though Jesus suffered and died on the cross, he did so as the King of the Universe.
Today, affirm the difference between Jesus and earthly kings and high priests. While earthly rulers were scurrying after snail mucus, Jesus was providing for the poor and living a humble life. Likewise, one of the significant challenges for most of us living in the first world is not scurrying after wealth and glitzy items that attempt to show superiority but living a life of humility and compassion. Jesus reminds us that you and I are worth more than snail mucus!
