bierkergaard

Last Saturday I was meeting a good buddy of mine at the local greasy spoon diner. Everybody needs one go-to. To get a breakfast like this beauty: Sure, a gut-buster...I don't eat like this all of the time. Eh, just most of the time. To brace myself for the caloric ingestion, I decided to walk from my Haus to the diner and back. A round-trip of probably close to three miles. I tend to not work out on Saturdays, so my coffee jitters can be a bit much. I really don't consider walking part of my "work-out" regimen. Just an add-on. But, it did take the edge off the coffee. It was a lovely Fall day. Facing the traffic, I set off on my journey. It is funny what I see when I slow down. Stuff like this: Yeah, that sign must have been disregarded as a matter of logic. I loved the irony. Only if the sign could fight back does it really add anything to the empty words. Like a drone strike that defends its perimeter.  And this: Might want to hire a professional ...

Should Christians do a daily Devotional out of duty? Our little checklist of dos and donts? If you do it out of duty, don't bother. Duty is the last line of defense. Do it because you want to, and if you don't want to, pray to the Lord that He makes you want to. And if you still don't want to, something is wrong. Don't take no Doctor to tell you that. A hungry person wants to eat.    For in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray for our "daily bread." Anyone with even a scant knowledge of the Bible knows that bread is both a physical reality and a spiritual reality. One for the body, one for the soul. Think of Jesus's teaching, the Lord's Supper, etc. If really daring, go to the Old Testament and put it altogether with Bethlehem being called the House of Bread and the like. To most Christians, the Old Testament is a strange land. So, they don't visit. It is modern day Marcionism.  Evangelicals get a bit queasy in the OT.    Most Co...

Yesterday we were down in Phoenixville for its first annual Oktoberfest. The beer and food were wonderful. The day started out chilly and rainy but then it turned into a fine afternoon. Sunny and cool, the rain past, with a gentle breeze. In other words, it feels like the fever has broken here in Eastern Pennsylvania. Fall, though late, is officially in gear. I remember I was about 12 years old and me and my brothers, dad, uncle, and assorted cousins climbed Bear Mountain in New York. I was a fairly athletic kid and I was ahead of everyone on the way down so I decided to plop down in some Fall leaves and peer into the changing season sky until everyone else caught up. It was quite peaceful. I recall that I thought to myself that "I will never forget this sight."  I am not certain why it made such an impression on the plate of my mind. Yet, it is quite true that I am very fond of Fall. It is my favorite reason and I particularly like the blueness of the sky coupled with t...

This past Wednesday, I was feeling worn-down. One thing that I love yet fear about my job as a high school counselor is that I have to think through very complicated situations with students and seek to find a path that leads towards resolution. Never quick, or at least rarely so. I weigh a lot of variables and strive to exhibit wisdom and empathy for the student or students involved and for those who they are in relationship with such as parents, teachers, other students, etc. Every situation is different. I do hit the wall sometimes and just banging my skull against it isn't the solution. Thus, on Wednesday, the pressure was mounting and my resources were at low ebb. Tasks were piling up like snow and I wasn't sure how I was going to get shoveled out. I came home discouraged. Rather than double-down and stay late, I knew that I had to be rejuvenated before going back into the storm. Just rushing back into the battle is a good way to take a bullet. I needed to step back a...

Fear The River Two Thursdays ago, it was uncharacteristically really nice outside. It was warm and sunny without being nasty humid. So, I felt compelled to get my face out of my iPhone and ride my bike to the river to Columbia Crossing, which is a public space veranda of sorts to gaze upon the river and think deep thoughts. I was chagrined when I arrived to see and more importantly hear a lady in yoga-like apparel yapping away on her cell. She might as well been talking to a rock since she was doing all of the talking. So much for my Zen moment of pondering whether I could see the same river twice. I was close enough to hear some of what she said. Typical gossip baloney. It irritated me that she didn't comprehend that it is not real appropriate to disturb the public peace with personal matters. By public peace I mean of course, my peace. So, I hung out for only a bit then hopped back on the Trek to home. I thought about how nice it would be to have property on the river w...

If someone were to ask me what is some of the best advice I ever got, top among such advice is "A short list is better than a long memory."  I read it in a small book called "Life's Little Handbook of Wisdom. " Cost a couple of bucks at the local Christian bookstore. It was for Grads. I bought it for myself.  I can savor a good quote for a long time. The little handbook survived the great purge of post-Divorce discarding 75% or my CDs and Books. The goods, mostly evangelical Christian stuff, may have served a useful purpose at one point (I don't want to be totally dismissive). But, the CDs and Books had become burdens that I never read or listened to again so it was wise for me to chuck. Most of it embarrassed me frankly. Corny in retrospect. A parallel product culture. Shred and incinerate. See ya.  I also jettisoned a lot of my Christian Sub-Culture attitudes and behaviors. I started listening to NPR, stopped giving to Conservative political causes,...

Surgically Repaired Pole The Friday of Labor Day Weekend, school was uncharacteristically not in session. Not sure why entirely. Not that I was complaining. Ramping back to school in session requires a decent amount of girding myself for the pressure. I don't recall this ever being the case of being off that Friday. So, I subverted back to summer mode for a day. Drank a lot of coffee. Chilled around the house, then decided to go for a hike at the local 1 mile path around Lake Grubb. Since Pa. has been the equatorial rainforest this summer (I know, I mention it every week), the hike was a bit nasty. It was hot, wet, slippery, and buggy. On top of it, since I am so freaking tall, I was clearing out the spider webs that most hikers pass under. I was using my walking pole to try and clear the way ahead. A flock of  mosquitoes and gnats circled me like satellites as I walked. When I got back to my car, I reflected how the hike had turned from a 99% win to something more like ...