bierkergaard

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. In girding myself up for the incoming school year of working with high school students, I have prepped by watching some silly slapstick films. First, Tommy Boy . Second, Happy Chandler.  The lead actors in each film, Chris Farley and Adam Sandler, share common comedic chops of typically playing mentally-slow characters with a reliance on physical comedy, malaprops, and dunder-headedness. Farley's work is particularly painful, despite being quite funny to watch, because of him being the fat boy who does dumb things routine....there is a good deal of sadness sometimes in silliness. Tommy Boy appears to be fairly autobiographical, so that fact/fiction distinction is overlapping. Silliness, like a bit of wasabi with sushi, goes a long way to win teens. As well as self-deprecation, teasing, and even sarcasm. Yet, it can't be too much. Respect goes down if everything is a laugh-

    Yesterday, during our weekly church service (people and place) a member of the community shared some thoughts about encouragement. It was a great sermon of sorts with an actual time where we went around to others and gave them an encouraging word based on an admirable trait they had. It was awkward but good. I liked particularly the Kermit shirt an early 20-something friend was wearing. That child-likeness is something he needs to hold onto as he becomes older. Heck, I wear a Bazooka Joe shirt that garners praise and I am on the cusp of 50.     The intentionality forced us to go against the grain of offering words of hope and commendation to others. We discussed why it was so difficult to do so. We arrived at no definitive answer yet agreed that truthful encouragement is foundational for community.   Encouragement needs to be honest to be lasting. As I pondered the difference between the flimsy and inflationary contemporary particle board self-esteem movement versus

Hebrews 9:22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Last week when I wiped out mountain-biking I split the heel of my hand (you know, below the thumb and above the wrist). I also nearly broke my wrist so I had to ice it down immediately after ending the ride. Because I was in mid-ice, I didn't want to bandage the wound quite then. When I left my buddy's house and drove a half-hour home, the wound was uncovered. When I got back into a lighted environment, I was chagrined to see a good deal of blood on my body and clothes from the wound. It wasn't like pints and pints but enough to cause me to wash off and then scrub my clothes for a good half-hour. And, also bandage the wound. Jesus had wounds on his head, hands, side, feet, and his back. In other words, he bled all over. I think there is spiritual significance in this: - The head is the source of our thoughts