bierkergaard

Today, it is a balmy 69 degrees in Pennsylvania. Not sure if the groundhog seeing its shadow had anything to do with it. If so, it would be the first good consequence I have had concerning a groundhog ever. Oh, how they destroy wantonly and eradicate the garden of my dreams. That, and my neighbor who sprays pesticides all over his backyard adjacent to my garden. The balmy weather has me thinking about the sun. There is an analogy between the sun's rays and love. The sun shines and warms all that it sets its gaze upon. A beautiful child or a pile of manure. The sun does not allocate its rays any differently depending on the object. God has been working on my heart recently to love more like the sun. Let it shine. Here has been an interesting aspect of this. God is calling me to love all, even those in my past who have hurt me...kind of loving my enemies retro. Love is not just present tense. I suppose forgiveness is just love looking back. I made a list of people who I have harbored...

Today, I should have been praying at 5:45 A.M.. Instead, during prayer time, I was messing around with my iPhone Settings and saw an option called Zoom. I thought to myself, "Heck, I can't read my iPhone because my near vision is so bad." Zoom sounded like a grand idea as an antidote. So, I turned on the Zoom setting without literally reading the fine print. Like how to deactivate Zoom or move the screen from one focus of the Zoom to another. I had a dream the other night where I didn't have my reading glasses and I was at New York City's Coney Island alone, and I could not see my iPhone numbers or letters, then my iPhone ran out of juice. I woke up in a cold sweat. So, this was probably the psychic pain that motivated me to do that fateful swipe turning the Zoom option on. The problem was that I didn't know how to turn it off and couldn't get to the Settings because my zoom didn't have it as part of the screen. Awesome, I am staring at a really enlarg...

Good friends of mine, Don and Michelle Record, have been the heart-beat behind Action Church in York, Pennsylvania. Something is telling me that I have Michelle's name spelled incorrectly. The church is celebrating three years of existence. Birthed in a bar, weaned in a club, and now a toddler in a theater, it has been an interesting three years. The Records would be the first to deflect glory to God and to the others who have joined them. Yet, I know that they have sacrificed a lot to see Action Church go from a crawl to walking. The Records and I go way back to at least ten years ago when we, and another couple plus two volunteer staff, tried to start Young Life at my high school. That endeavor ultimately did not succeed. I hope the Lord, in calculating how I used my Talents at the end of my days, takes into account that I tried. For, I have not succeeded a lot in my life, but my intentions were good--and aimed upward and godward and not to Hell. A lot of my work in the col...

Every real man I know, has at least one--perhaps more--ratty hats..or rat hats for short. You know what I speak of...the ones that make our wives cringe when we wear them outside of the house. Dirty, torn, faded, perhaps even odorous. Oh, how we love them. I just found a website the specializes in new hats that look worn. This is one of their items to the left. Now, come on, that's cheating. Like taking steroids. One has to buy the hat new and it must travel and travail through life before attaining the ratty hat status. No short cuts! It must be properly aged like cheese. When I graduated from Temple with my Ph.D. last Spring, I thought it might be a good time to update my Temple hat. I looked and looked, and could not find anything to my liking at the bookstore. Now, I have been searching the Temple Bookstore website and I am convinced that they only put stuff that won't sell at the store on there. Kind of the scratched and dented can section of the store. Secretly, I t...

Normally, I eschew Peanut M & M's. Not that it is easy. They are my favorite candy by far. Being that Mars is the chief U.S. competitor to Hershey, it is best for me to not openly cavort with the enemy (my wife works for Hershey). I do have clandestine encounters with Peanut M & M's every so often, but I remove all evidence of such liaisons. Usually, at school. I saunter down to the faculty room and visit the snack machine. One time Lina found a crumpled yellow bag in the trash at home and interrogated me. I have learned to be discrete. So, today, when Lina brought home one of those big Peanut M & M bags, leftovers from "research" at Hershey, I capitalized on the opportunity and had a serious run at the bag. Now, I have regrets. Funny how it is easy to not miss something that is out of range. But, once it comes close, resistance is futile. Trying to avoid temptation? Best not to flirt with it. Keep it at arm's length and out of sight.

For Valentine's last night, Lina and I went to Josephine's Restaurant in Marietta for dinner. Quite lovely. As the website notes, " Josephine’s Restaurant, set in a 1792 log home in historic Marietta, offers fine international cuisine in a comfortable atmosphere. Exposed beams, fireplaces and classic design are joined by arrangements of fresh fruit and flowers in making guests feel at home. The menu is eclectic, changing with the seasons and designed by chef/owner, Daniel LeBoon, whose creativity and innovation are as important ingredients as the fresh foods he chooses. Also a Certified Sommelier, his wine list reflects the best up-and-coming vineyards of the world." Needless to say Lina, eats at more fine dining restaurants than I do on a monthly basis as part of her travels for Hershey. Me? I don't even eat the school lunches where I work. Even by Lina's exacting standards, this place is exquisite. New York City or Philadelphia level quality, yet only 15 mi...

One of my favorite websites, Lager & Gospel posted a new music video from one of my favorite bands "Burlap to Cashmere" called Love Reclaims the Atmosphere. Talk about a win-win! I know that defending drinking alcohol as a Scripturally-permissible practice is controversial and for good reason. Human beings have a strong proclivity towards legalism or licentiousness. Alcohol can rocket us in either direction. What can fill the space? It is what put Jesus on the Cross. LOVE. Anything less than love causes human beings to recoil from service and sacrifice. Love picks up where duty leaves off. Mere duty does not motivate us to take the nails with a plea for forgiveness for the guilty. Here is the challenge...the mere drinking or not drinking of alcohol is not the real issue. I wish it was...it would be a breeze. I'd probably be a Muslim. Sure, I will pray five times a day and make a pilgrimage to Mecca and give Alms and fast during Ramadan. Check, check, check, check....