Yes

This parcel of peas is just brimming with joy!

A fun thing, translations. Take, for instance, this bit from a Japanese guide for English-speaking drivers from 1936:

1. At the rise of the hand of the policeman, stop rapidly. Do not pass him or otherwise disrespect him.
2. If pedestrian obstacle your path, tootle horn melodiously. If he continue to obstacle, tootle horn vigorously and utter vocal warning such as, “Hi, hi.”
3. If wandering horse by roadside obstacle your path, beware that he do not take fright as you pass him. Go soothingly by, or stop by roadside till he pass away.
4. If road mope obstacle your path, refrain from pass on hill or round curve. Follow patiently till road arrive at straight level stretch. Then tootle horn melodiously and step on, passing at left and waving hand courteously to honorable road mope in passing.
5. Beware of greasy corner where lurk skid demon. Cease step on, approach slowly, round cautiously, resume step on gradually.

But back to our tasty sack of peas: mayhap this is not silly at all, and perhaps these peas are somehow infused with joy, happiness, and good luck. They are, I have noticed, quite tasty and satisfying. And after all, it is often unsoothing to assume.

Consul and so-called “Third Founder of Rome,” a quintessential example of the danger of power for a good man. An intriguing character sketch.

I’d recommend Plutarch’s biography on Gaius Marius, or read Colleen McCullough’s First Man in Rome and The Grass Crown.

From the pulpit: Fly into El Paso, Texas and you’ll think you’re landing on the moon. Vast expanses of wilderness dotted by just a few shrubs and bushes. That’s my heart. That’s your heart if you’re honest with yourselves: a wilderness.

This could be true.

What happened, however, to the joyful assurance that old things have passed away? That all things have become new? That God gives us milk and honey and leads us to green pastures and streams of living water? The above quote was not directly denying this. But neither is the Christian heart a wilderness; at least, it shouldn’t be.

There is a marked difference between experiencing difficulty in life and having a heart that is like a desert. Church and the Bible are not Tylenol and Aspirin for a parched heart, serving just to temporarily relieve pain before the war-zone of non-Sunday life returns. Being a Christian means that your heart is full of hope, joy, and trust. Difficult times will come and may stick around for quite some time. But that is not the same thing as eternally housing the Gobi in your sternum.

My cup runs over. We are in the sanctification process, yes. But we are new creatures, and the joy and merriment of Christianity should not be quashed.