When I, In Awesome Wonder

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  “Look! are not the fields covered with a delightful verdure? Is there not something in the woods and groves, in the rivers and clear springs, that soothes, that delights, that transports the soul? At the prospect of the wide and deep ocean, or some huge mountain whose top is lost in the clouds, or of an old gloomy forest, are not our minds filled with a pleasing horror? Even in rocks and deserts is there not an agreeable wildness? How sincere a pleasure is it to behold the natural beauties of the earth! To preserve and renew our relish for them, is not the veil of night alternately drawn over her face, and doth she not change her dress with the seasons? How aptly are the elements disposed!” George Berkeley (1685–1753).  “Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous in Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists.”

A Mistake?

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The other day I saw a headline on someone's webpage which read, "Everyone makes mistakes. The trick is to make mistakes when nobody is looking." I immediately thought of Romans 14:12 which reads, "So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God."

I found this card in my topical file under "sin":

What man calls an "accident," God calls "abomination."
What man calls a "blunder," God calls "blindness."'
What man calls "defect," God calls "disease."
What man calls "chance," God calls "choice."
What man calls "error," God calls "enmity."
What man calls "fascination," God calls "fatality."
What man calls "infirmity," God calls "iniquity."
What man calls "luxury," God calls "leprosy."
What man calls "liberty," God calls "lawlessness."
What man calls "trifle," God calls "tragedy."
What man calls a "mistake," God calls "madness."
What man calls "weakness," God calls "willfulness."

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