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Please take the time to read and enjoy my poetry! It is my ongoing project and I am looking forward to translating my poems into Turkish, Portuguese, and French. JFB
Ten Important Things I have Learned: Love is Stronger than Death and Nine Others.
I am about to turn 67 and I have actually had people ask me what important things I have learned. This carries the presumption that...
hcdjfb
Mar 11, 20233 min read
65 views
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Thinking of my Dad and the Trisagion: Love is Stronger than Death.
My family was Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Orthodox (sort of). We would never miss Jesus on a technicality. When my...
JF Bierlein
Mar 10, 20231 min read
43 views
2 comments
Choices Make Us "Us"
This piece was inspired by my friend Dean Fischer, who was ice fishing and noticed how peaceful and quiet it was on the frozen lake. It...
JF Bierlein
Mar 10, 20232 min read
14 views
0 comments
The Human Spirit is Like the Moon
I was reading "Full Moon" by the great Chinese poet of the Tang period, Du Fu, and it led me to the following meditation. The human...
JF Bierlein
Mar 8, 20231 min read
41 views
2 comments
Make Kindness Your Default Setting: Let's Try This and See if it Works.
Be kind for no apparent reason. You could be kind because it feels good to you. Or you could be kind because if you are, you may get...
JF Bierlein
Mar 6, 20231 min read
53 views
0 comments
Forgiveness Contains "Give"
Forgiveness has the word “give” in it. But who “gives” to whom? After all, the object of forgiveness is given tp someone who has taken...
JF Bierlein
Mar 4, 20231 min read
21 views
0 comments
Human Champagne
So many times The angry, the rude, the insolent, and the violent Are not what they appear. The external is not a picture of their...
hcdjfb
Mar 3, 20231 min read
16 views
0 comments
J.F. Bierlein Podcast with Joel Blackstock
My friend Joel Blackstock is a psychotherapist in Birmingham, Alabama. We had a most enjoyable conversation about mythology, philosophy,...
hcdjfb
Feb 28, 20231 min read
33 views
0 comments
Teacher Zhuangzi's Dream: And Who Am I?:
Teacher Zhuangzi had a dream, Wherein he was a butterfly. Totally free and happy and unaware of being Zhuangzi. It was beautiful! He...
hcdjfb
Feb 27, 20231 min read
18 views
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The Constancy of Change
The constancy of change They say that you cannot step in the same river twice, Because the river is always flowing, Flowing right past...
hcdjfb
Feb 25, 20231 min read
27 views
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Beautify Your Day: Instrumental Version of Edvard Grieg's "Solveig's Song" from Per Gynt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQnGrpGfTWc&t=8s
hcdjfb
Feb 24, 20231 min read
21 views
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Unselfing
Prologue: Bertrand Russell used the term “unselfing:” to describe the practice of going outside of yourself, your needs, and your present...
JF Bierlein
Feb 23, 20231 min read
61 views
2 comments
Permanence and Small Change: A Meditation
Prologue: With assistance from our friend Maliha Imami, we learned that this coin was minted in Calcutta/Kolkata in the 37th Year of the...
hcdjfb
Feb 20, 20232 min read
19 views
0 comments
The Critics Were (Somewhat) Right. Thank Your Critics For Making You Think
The critics were (somewhat) right, And (now) so am I. When I take who I was And see who I am, I think back to how affronted or hurt I was...
JF Bierlein
Feb 16, 20232 min read
14 views
0 comments
Beautify Your Day: Breathe, relax and listen: The Butterfly Lovers Erhu Concerto 《梁祝》
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu5XohUR3Pg Skip the adds.The whole piece takes about 27 minutes, but even 5 minutes of it is beautiful,...
JF Bierlein
Feb 16, 20231 min read
13 views
0 comments
The Coin of Kindness II
I published "The Coin of Kindness" at the beginning of this year. The events of the year have led me to revisit it, add to it, and...
JF Bierlein
Feb 16, 20231 min read
11 views
0 comments
A New Season: The Spring in my Step.
I wrote a version of this some time ago, but with the coming of spring, I wanted to revise it. I also read a poem by the Turkish poet...
JF Bierlein
Feb 15, 20232 min read
11 views
0 comments
Affection: Happy Valentine's Day!
An oldie but a goodie. What is love and what is affection? It is amazing! If you take a genuine interest in someone else’s life They...
hcdjfb
Feb 14, 20231 min read
18 views
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Beautify Your Day: "Song to the Moon" from the opera Rusalka by Antonin Dvorak
Take a minute to relax, breathe, close your eyes and listen to this exceptional piece of music. (You may click to skip the advertisements...
hcdjfb
Feb 13, 20231 min read
14 views
0 comments
What does it matter to me?
“If you feel pain, you are alive. If you feel another’s pain, you are human.” Leo Tolstoy What does it matter to me when there is a war...
JF Bierlein
Feb 11, 20232 min read
31 views
0 comments
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