Port Clinton, Ohio residents Beverly Schwind and Sue Donner may have been an issue for some in the 1970s who suffered from coulrophobia. Do you have coulrophobia? This phobia is the fear of clowns and Beverly and Sue were known to northwest Ohio on Toledo 11 as Patches and Pockets.
Back then, children loved clowns. Clowns were a favorite party guest. Other famous and special clowns were Weary Willie (Emmet Kelly), Ronald McDonald , and Bozo the Clown. My first knife, fork, and spoon set had the image of Bozo on the handle. Curiosity took me to eBay and, sure enough, a vintage set is still available for $20. I would have thought it would have been worth more.
Anyway – back to Patches and Pockets.
I ran across a YouTube video of this show that I watched when I was just a little kid. The opening theme song hit me with that moment of nostalgia that causes a bubble of excitement to arise in the chest. These two ladies dressed as clowns and lived in a toy box. Patches was the girl clown while Pockets played her brother. Watching the episode, I have to admit that it reinvents the definitions of corny and hokey! But there was an innocence to the show as it tried to teach children some valuable lessons.
To help “him” think, Pockets would often take his shoe off his foot and put it on his head and place his fingers on both sides of his temples. Of the two, Pockets played the more precocious character while Patches seemed to be a bit more level-headed. She would often try to dissuade Pockets from doing something but often gave in to his begging and childish logic. In the end, a lesson was taught and everyone walked away safer and better off for the simple lesson.
For those who might be wondering, “Beverly “Beve” Schwind (Patches) passed away in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee, on February 22, 2022, at the age of 87. Marlene “Sue” Donner (Pockets) died of heart failure on June 26, 2011, at the age of 78, in the Erie County Care Facility in Huron, Ohio.”1
The thought hit me that many see the Bible as complex, complicated, and riddled with deep, theological mysteries that require a Doctor of Divinity or Theology degree to comprehend. This misconception might be propagated by church services where the sermons or Sunday School lessons are preached with terminology and concepts that are so high and out of reach for the majority of people. This is a tragedy!
A special story is told about Jesus in Matthew 19:13-15. “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. (14) But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (15) And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.” 
Personally, I believe that the Bible was intended for the masses of Christianity, not to a select few who went to Bible college. It was to be taught to our hearts by the indwelling Holy Spirit, not the preacher standing in the pulpit. While his ministry is important and sanctioned by God, the Spirit of God is the ultimate teacher. Again, in my opinion, the preacher who pontificates needs a bit of humbling. He needs to preach with a simplicity that a child can understand.
Granted, there are truths that require spiritual maturity just like a child must mature and grow in their knowledge to grasp certain things. Calculus, chemistry, and physics are not typically taught to preschoolers. The child needs to begin with the basics and build a foundation to understand deeper things. This is true spiritually as well. Ultimately, though, deep truths do not have to be presented on a graduate level in college.
Through the years, I’ve genuinely appreciated someone coming to me and saying, “I don’t have a clue what you were talking about.” It gave me the opportunity to reword a truth more clearly and simply while helping me to be more cautious in the future about my phrasing of certain things.
The innocence of childlike simplicity is a wonderful thing. It keeps the good fruit low where it can be picked by anyone who is hungry. Let the wonder of childlike faith capture your imagination as you think about what God can do with one yielded child.
Matthew 18:2-6 says, “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, (3) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. (6) But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patches_%26_Pockets
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