Beer of Patience


So the young person went into life. Yet the path that stretches before him is long and the world will probably be difficult for him at times. If he does not enlist the help of patience now, then all his strife and struggle will be of little value to him. Soren Kierkegaard

 I read Soren every Saturday morning. I call it "Saturday Morning with Soren K." The most recent essay is on patience, an exposition on Luke 21:19 (In your patience you shall possess your souls). It take patience to read Kierkegaard. When I first bought the book Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses 15 or so years ago, I had tried to read it. I put it down.

 Now, I can read it, even several pages at a time. I suppose the Ph.D. made my mind more able to plow through the thickets. 

 A lack of patience indeed is the root of some of what is wrong with the world. Get rich quick schemes, fornication (premarital sex), obesity, all have the feature "I want it now", consequences be damned. Esau is hungry so he rashly trades his birthright for stew. The Prodigal Son wants his inheritance pronto while his Dad is still living. 

 My own particular battle with patience involves beer. I have been in a cycle at times of starting to drink beer too early in the day. The arc winds up leading me to drink more than I should. I don't qualify as a problem drinker but I am aware of the slippery slope that drinking beer can lead to...one, two, three, four. 

 I have instituted some principles where I have pushed coffee early into the AM as possible and beer as late into the PM as reasonable which is typically around 7:00 PM. I just run out of time to drink more than  2-3 beers. I have also filled my weekends, which is when I have most of my discretionary free time (like most people) with a plethora of physical activity, hence the purchase of the mountain bike, weights/bench, kayak, and yes, the skateboard. 

 I find that physical activity and sports are fun for me. Now that I have ended the competition with others trap, I am free to enjoy the level of working out for fitness, not some attempt at proving myself. 

 Like I have written in previous blogs, I have a chronic bad left knee which essential eliminated the prospects of being a gold chip athlete decades ago. Yet, the sporting activities I do now don't require that my knee be healthy. The knee doesn't get any better but it also does not get any worse. So, I am thankful that I am able to do what I can rather than be overly sorrowful for what I cannot do.

 Yesterday after a five mile run and some skateboarding, I hung out with a friend from 7-9. We drank a few brews, one of which was this excellent Amber Lager. The night concluded and we went our way, not starting early and lingering late. Today I lifted weights and the kayaked on the Susquehanna for an hour in the shimmering sunshine. 

 I am eager to enjoy a beer or two later. Until then, I am just going to chill, like a lager does when fermenting.                     

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