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.”

What Has It Got In Its Pocketses?

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You will perhaps recognize that question as it was asked of Bilbo by Gollum in Tolkien's "The Hobbit."

We were out doing ministry on the street one night when this older man with a very long and scraggly beard came up to me and asked very directly, "You're a Christian, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," I replied, "but I can't help but wonder how you would guess."

He pointed to my shirt pocket containing gospel tracts and said, "Your pockets are bulging."  No doubt I was "packed for bear" that night as I had something to distribute from every pocket (I feel naked without something in my shirt pocket)!

What is in a man's pockets reveal much about him, don't they?  What is most important?  What does he hold dear, or what does he deem as absolutely essential?  And the things in his pockets change over time, as does the man.  Here is an interesting and humourous history of a man told by what he carried in his pocketses.

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