bierkergaard

I have been on an Innocence Mission kick on Pandora the last couple of days. Innocence Mission is a Lancaster band that has been around for two decades and enjoys critical acclaim and a popular following both inside and outside of the county. I am much prouder of the export of their music than other Lancaster County indigenous products like Shoo Fly Pie. The flies can keep the pie for all I care...I won't be doing any shooing to protect the precious...the winged creatures are right where they belong. I first saw The Innocence Mission perform at the old Chameleon Club on North Christian Street over twenty years ago. The voice of Karen Peris mesmerized me by its pristine beauty. Like crystal, it was clear and fragile...innocent. It is good to know that her voice and the band retains such qualities. The fresh innocence of youth can become the burning cigarette-like scratchy cynicism of mid-life which then becomes the butts of bitterness ash of old age. Pandora operates on a principl

Proverbial sayings have a probability but not a certainty inherent in them. Let me illustrate. "Misery loves company" versus "Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry, and you cry alone." OK, so which is it? How about these two verses from the Book of Proverbs in the Bible: Pr 26:4 "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." Pr 26:5 "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit." Kind of like the comedian Steven Wright's joke: "I bought a dog the other day. I named him Stay. It's fun to call him. "Come here, Stay! Come here, Stay!" He went insane." Rather than try to dissect the differences and intricacies on the "answering a fool, answer not a fool" dilemma, I think it better just to accept that what may be right in one context may not be right in another...it is called Wisdom. Wisdom is knowing what to do dependent on the particular circ

John 11:35 "Jesus wept." Been thinking about Psalm 107 and crying out to the Lord. Crying is the operative word to receiving God's mercy and compassion. In an eternal sense, we are truly babies. This life is merely infancy of eternity. Babies have one true mode of expressing negative emotions and conditions. Crying. More crying. In stores, in planes. I joke to Lina that I am going to wear those noise canceling headphones around the house that you see on planes in case we have kids. If the crying can't break the decibel level, my reasoning is that the crying can't be that critical. I know, heartless. If a baby cries and and no one provides comfort, succor, and resolution of the problem, the baby begins to learn that just because he or she has needs and wants, there is no guarantee that these needs and wants are going to be met. Just because the diaper is full don't mean a change is going to happen. This is a harsh life lesson. I suppose one of the saddest plac

Psalms 107:6 "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses." Do you believe in luck? I really don't. I think a good definition of "luck" is when "preparation meets opportunity." What looks like luck, a happy happenstance or an arbitrary tragedy, is often a fairly discernible process. Yet, we can go too far with this. Clearly there are circumstances that happen to us, either blessing or disasters, out of our control. St. Patrick, before he was a saint, was a dissolute youth, given to impiety. He truly was in the "wrong place at the wrong time" like a bowling pin when he was abducted by a marauding Irish troupe on the shores of France and taken to Ireland as a slave. I am not sure what is up with the bowling analogy but I am going to roll with it. What looks to man like a misfortune does not wind up being so in the grip of God. Read this from his Confession: "I, Patrick, a sinner, a mos

2 Cor. 2:15 "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing ." I am OK with Aromatherapy...when people suffuse soothing smells into the air like lavender so that they can chill out. A lot of New Age practices don't bother me as long as they are kept in their proper place and do not violate clear Scriptural teaching (like Necromancy-contacting the dead). Acupuncture, use of herbs, Yoga...no problem. Stretching while bowing to an Idol...a problem. I do find it interesting that the practitioners of Aromatherapy speak grandiosely about its benefits: "Why Choose Essential oils ? Essential oils offer a wide variety of health benefits such as physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance. It encompasses over 9000 years of history that supports, exemplifies and solidifies the therapeutic properties essential oils have to offer. It is also fun and empowering as it put control back in YOUR hands over YOUR