bierkergaard

It is Friday afternoon. The first three days of school are over. 177 to go. Not that I really count. I can't afford to. I take it one day at a time and trust that God will provide the sufficient grace required thereof. And, it is not that I don't plan...I do. But, I try to avoid thinking overly about what is to come. If for no other reason than I am often wrong. So, it is a fool's errand. Being that it is Friday, I have decided to have a couple of beers. Since I am a beer aficionado, I refuse to buy Bud, Miller, or Coors. My default is Yuengling Lager. It is a good, not great, beer. At $ 20 a case, I am drinking my brews for under a dollar apiece. I am all for great beer. I have plenty of it in the Beer Fridge and downstairs in the basement. Some of this beer goes for around four dollars per 12 oz. That is an educated guess...I am really not up for doing the Math. I could barely muster up the brainpower at work to check my phone voicemail at 3:00 PM. It is true that...

Lina, my wife, has been doing exercise/yoga-like routines from Netflix. We are doing a trial run before she goes all in and buys a DVD set. The DVD set is one of those "Three easy payments of $ 79.99." When one does the math and goes, "Yikes." So, in the download pre-programmed work-out routine, the instructor says things like "Good!" as if she is praising her audience who are doing the routines well. Here is the strange part--there is no audience in real time. It is a general affirmational tone without any awareness of how the audience is actually doing. For all she knows, her audience might be some dude with a gut who is eating chips and likes to see women stretch. Seriously. Does the instructor want to praise that? Our society tends to think that praising creates praiseworthy behavior. It is actually just the reverse. When we praise without something that deserves praise, it cheapens praise because it is so effusive and sloppy. When I worked wit...

Damn straight I worry. Last night specifically around 12:05 am. I was going through several complex schedule changes in my head. Visions of trying to work something out while the lines of students with incorrect schedules mounting outside my door like water on a New Orleans levee was causing me to be wakeful from worry. For today was the first day of school. I learned about two decades ago that if I could not sleep because I was worried about something I could address that moment, then I should get out of bed and stop my ceiling-gazing and solve the problem. This revelation came too me after many sleepless nights pondering what to do rather than actually doing it. SO, early this morning, I hopped on my computer, accessed the Student Information System remotely, and did four schedules that were likely to be the most challenging in the morning. After about two hours of doing this and addressing a couple of other issues, I went back to bed. The remedy for worry? Work. Do something...

I found this marvelous painting on the Seven Days of Creation. Interesting how the 7th Day is accorded great value, teaching us that rest is not just the absence of work. A zero. As a day of Shalom, it stands not as negation but as regeneration. A re-Genesis. Last night I read Genesis 1. I found it fascinating that God could have set the whole entire Creation in motion in an instant, like hitting the switch. Lights, camera, action. The Six Days into a once and done snap of the fingers where man hits the ground walking. Instead, God is progressive. He doesn't need to be, but as the Grand Artist, Creation develops and unfolds like a painting on a canvas. After each major stroke God declares it good. Once the painting of Creation is finished, He calls it very good. The sum is greater than the parts. On the 7th Day, He reflects. Again, not because He needs to but because He wants to. Wanting is is often more poignant and powerful than needing. So, what does this teach morta...