i remember having a conversation with a family member once about my church.... they said, "you aren't into that speaking in tongues and snake handling, are you?" I remember how proud I was of my response - "no, of course there are no snakes!!" i have a personal aversion to our serpent friends that began when i was 5 years old. preparing for my 1st ballet recital, i put on my pink ballet shoe and found there was something inside. black. rubber-like. i picked it up and when it began to move in my hand, i screamed maniacally. jumped up on top of the toilet tank and hollered for someone to rescue me from the foot-long black garden snake that was threatening my life, and it was equally afraid of me. sadly, there was construction going on in my house so no one heard me for quite a while. with this silly anecdote shared, i present you with this sad story... Woman fatally bitten by snake in church LONDON, Ky. (AP) -- A southeastern Kentucky woman was bitten by a snake during a church service and later died, a law enforcement officer said. Linda Long, 48, of London died Sunday at University of Kentucky Medical Center, said Brad Mitchell, a detective with the Laurel County Sheriff's Office. Long died about four hours after the bite was reported, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Officials said Long attended East London Holiness Church. Neighbors of the church told the newspaper the church practices serpent handling. Lt. Ed Sizemore of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said friends went with Long to a local hospital Sunday afternoon, and she was taken to UK. "She said she was bitten by a snake at her church," Sizemore said. Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $100 fine. Police said they had not received reports about snake handling at the church. Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed. Church officials could not be reached for comment. The funeral was scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Arthur's Chapel Church in Rosehill, Va., according to the Rosehill Funeral Home. | 
