A favorite “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoon (a boy and his “tiger”) has the two characters grubbily digging in the backyard. Hobbes, the tiger, asks Calvin what he's found and Calvin replies seriously with something like “a rock, an old bottle cap, a snapped rubber band and two rusty nails” - and then, ecstatic, he shouts, “There's treasure everywhere!”

Garage sale treasures are something like that. What is broken or ugly to one person can make another's day! A pile of mismatched dishes can yield a match for great aunt Susan's special china, or a young family can find this year's affordable and classy school outfits from another family's cast-offs. A student can furnish an apartment and have money left over for pizza. An artist can collect the makings for a masterpiece. A reader can choose a winter's imaginary travel to mystery and romance. Sometimes, even, a piece of garish costume jewelry turns out to be literal treasure of diamonds and rubies.

But there's more treasure in a garage sale than its piles of stuff; there are treasures of the spirit to be found buried in the commotion of the day. For starters, there's priceless community-building and friend-making. All sorts of connections get made as people wander off their usual routes, meeting people they would normally not even see. Taking that a step further, there are often many moments of generosity, kindness and compassion exchanged along with the exchange of money and goods, as needs are observed and help unobtrusively given. In general, it's a way to support each other and some organizations during these chancy financial days. On a care-for-the-earth list, it's a way to help protect those exquisite natural resources by re-using and recycling.

There's another benefit for those getting rid of things. Making space, moving out items that are no longer useful and clearing out clutter seems to have a spiritual equivalent. It seems that things own a bit of us, as much as we own them. Clearing out what is connected to the past can set us free for what comes next. Creating some order out of chaos in our surroundings can do the same for what goes on inside. Getting rid of the weight of bulky items can help us lighten up, see the life we do have in brighter colors and be easier on each other and on ourselves. (In God's language, it could translate to “Let go, let God, start fresh!”)

So be on the watch for those garage sale signs. May you discover all kinds of treasure everywhere!

P.S. Here are two to put on your calendar: From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, the community is invited, as sellers and buyers, to share in a tailgate flea market garage sale at the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church at 112 South St. They've got space for 30 families/vendors at $10 per double parking space. Call 252-3861 to get your spot. The Calvary Food Pantry will have a space, so you can also bring any food items to help them provide for a growing number of local families.

Then on the first Saturday in October, the Calvary Food Pantry is having its own sale. They are accepting appropriate donations, always happy to get volunteer help and looking forward to seeing you then.

The Rev. Eileen J. Winter is

the new pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Auburn