bierkergaard

From the Bazooka Joe Comic Aphorism School of World Diplomacy , "When two dogs get in a fight, the third should keep his distance." Bazooka Joe gum is not very good, neither are the actual comic strips coming with the wrapped gum. However, the sayings on the bottom of the comic were and maybe still are unusually prescient. For years, I chewed Bazooka Joe. After the first initial download of sugar, it just turned into a wad of putty. No flavor and hard on the jaws to chew. So, I quit chewing it. But I still recall reading that "third dog" quote. Both dogs in the fight in Syria have foul and rabid natures. Extreme Sunnis and extreme Shiites once again going for each others' jugular, just a different country. There are innocents in the middle but damned if we are going to be able to protect them from either side. We have to stay the hell out of there or become part of the hell in there. The best that all the outside powers can try to do is staun...

There has been a lot of discussion about Miley Cyrus's performance at the MTV Awards (I think that was it). I didn't watch the show but I have heard the echo chamber reverberations in the evangelical community about what it means. Here is what it means: Miley Cyrus is a lost girl. Another child star who grew up in the light of lights, camera, action. All the discussion and pondering about what it means and how we should understand who she is because it gives us clues into teen culture I think is not a very useful exercise. It is like going outside to the local road where small creatures have been flattened like pancakes by four wheel vehicles. How much studying does one have to do to figure out what killed the critter? How much examining do we have to do to figure out what killed the culture? If anyone should be studying teen culture, its media and music, it should be me as a school counselor. But, I don't as a rule unless it is something like Harry Potter which w...

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 ...

    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 co...

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 t...

Acts 2:17 In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will speak what God has revealed. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Went to a showing of the documentary about The Chameleon Club the other night at Lancaster Public Library on Duke Street. The Chameleon has been a Central Pennsylvania hotbed for music, with either nationally-known bands making a stop or local bands progressing up through The Chameleon to national status. LIVE of course is the obvious example. I have so many memories of so many great shows. The original owner, Rich Ruoff, who ran the club from its inception in the mid-80's to the early 2000's and sold the club soon after cops came in and raided the place and knocked out the deejay in a case of SS tactics. He had also married and wanted to have kids and leave the 24-7 nature of running a club behind. He made an interesting comment about ...

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. Walking through Lancaster City last evening, a woman asked me how tall I was--and whether I played basketball. She was parked in her car with her mom in the front seat. 6' 8", I replied. What ensued was a very interesting conversation where one thing lead to another. Used to be I'd get a bad attitude when someone asked me about my height and basketball. A career-ending knee injury made me salty and surly. Plus, the sheer repetition of the questions. Now, having left basketball behind, and God using that to teach me lessons I needed to learn,  I walk through that open door to get to know people. Questions about height and basketball welcome. Where can you connect with others?