Never smile at a crocodile

because it leads to trouble

In the musical, Peter Pan, a crocodile stalks the villain Captain Hook. Pan had once chopped off Hook’s hand and thrown it to the crocodile. The croc has wanted to eat the rest of Hook ever since.

One song offers this advice:

Never smile at a crocodile

No, you can't get friendly with a crocodile.
Don't be taken in by his welcome grin . . .
Never smile at a crocodile

Never dip your hat and stop to talk awhile . . .

If we treat the song as a light way to deliver an urgent message about the battle between good and evil, that message is that we cannot afford to get friendly with something whose sole purpose is to eat us. We don’t want to be polite, and we definitely don’t want to stop to talk.

From a spiritual standpoint, the croc is anything that would lead us away from God –any thoughts that don’t directly honor and praise God. The Bible depicts this lure away from good in the book of Genesis, as a talking, lying snake. Chatting with this snake leads away from the source of all good. The result is, predictably, unhappiness.

At the very beginning of his career, Christ Jesus was tempted to have a brief talk with the devil. Just think. If the devil could have distracted Jesus at that point, before his life work began, we would have no New Testament, and no Christianity today. (Some people would argue that violent distortions of Christianity have done more harm than good -- but that's another discussion.)

Jesus knew what that darkest evil was up to. Twice he quoted Scripture to the devil. To no avail. The devil quoted Scripture back. Jesus finally told Satan to buzz off. He made it clear he was not interested. He turned away from that fruitless discussion to commune with angels. What a great choice, and what a lesson for us!

We too can turn from the temptation to chat with metaphorical snakes and crocodiles -whatever would lead us away from God’s caring and love. We can always choose to turn instead to His angels - messages of wisdom, comfort, joy, and peace. And then we find the next step in the adventure God has planned for us.

Hold thought steadfastly

to the enduring, the good, and the true,
and you will bring these into your experience
proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.
Mary Bake Eddy