Trish Hermanson's Blog: Croutons - Seasoned Bits of Life, page 18

Is He a Traitor?

     On the one hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I, I recall this veteran marching quietly in a parade. He received scant applause, while uniformed war re-enactors drew cheers and whistles. Why the difference? Because some Americans view veterans who demonstrate for peace as traitors.
     But are they? These vets have tasted more in war than re-enactors ever will. They understand the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the World War II Allied Forces. “I hate war as...

Not a Beautiful Day in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood

     It was not a beautiful day in Mr. Rogers’ actual neighborhood when a gunman killed eleven in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Like a brutal slap in the face, this atrocity smacked of all the evil Fred Rogers sought to dispel. Yet after years of modeling kindness, Mr. Rogers had grown disillusioned near the end of his life, a recent documentary revealed. Despite his best efforts, the world had grown worse, not better.     
     Why is that? Why can’t we bring about the peace we hope for? The...

Finding Beauty in Brokenness

     Could I recover beauty in brokenness? When I first spotted these chairs, they were nothing but wobbly legs, tattered upholstery, and scarred wood. They once belonged to our retired neighbors Lyle and Nan. He was the center of attention at block parties, cracking jokes and snapping photos, while she was his grinning sidekick. But seasons passed, and Lyle and Nan’s steps faltered. They shifted to the sidelines at social events, then stopped attending. No more jokes, no more photos, b...

Am I Two-Faced?

     I was seated in a modern living room, but the conversation transported me back to the the world of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in the 1930s. In that book, a Southern ladies’ missionary circle sips tea and chats about how to raise funds to support a missionary working with an uncivilized tribe in Africa, while they complain about having to pay their “darkie” maids.     
     As in that scene, I was gathered with decent people who genuinely care about the world. One woman urged us to “pra...

Am I a Glorious Beggar?

     Why did this blue heron trade his royal standing in the bird kingdom for panhandling? Locals on the Gulf Coast island where he lives warned me about Harry, as they call him. And the moment I drew open the curtains in the second-floor room I rented, I was a sucker to his charms. From the branches of a tree, he swooped over onto my balcony and cocked his head as if to ask, “Breakfast?”     
     I dutifully headed to the dock while Harry strolled alongside me at a comfortable distance...

How I Survived a Woman's Worst Disaster

     The worst disaster in womanhood befell me. My purse wore out and I couldn’t find a replacement. That’s the-end-of-life-as-we-know-it for women, because we depend on a well-organized handbag as the repository for all we need to make it through the day.     
     For years, I’ve relied on fanny packs, one after another, slung over my shoulder to hold everything I needed to survive. But when I visited my usual vendor to replace my bag, the clerk informed me: “We don’t carry those anymo...

How to Protect of Kids from Predators

     Cosby, Kavanaugh, and Catholic clergy grab the headlines, and I wonder how, in this sex-soaked culture, we can protect our most vulnerable - the kids. The statistics turn my stomach: one in four girls in America is sexually abused before the age of eighteen; among guys it’s one in six. At a seminar on child abuse I attended as a volunteer for an organization, I watched a video interview with a teen perpetrator who spoke blandly of fondling more than 500 children. I could have throw...

Would Jesus Jump on My Political Bandwagon?

     My parents warned me, “Never discuss sex, politics, or religion because they’re explosive.” Alert: I’m talking about two of them here.     
     I’m a Christian, I’m thankful to be an American, and like you, I’m concerned about the spiraling down of our culture. That’s why some Christians yearn to make America great again. But would Jesus jump on this bandwagon? Building up a country wasn’t his priority because he declared his realm isn’t in this world. When his supporters sought to...

Am I a Bad Samaritan?

     Along our hiking trail we spotted a rickety wheelchair turned over and empty. My husband Duane and I ran toward it and discovered a man on all fours struggling to crawl toward it. He’d tumbled out and spent the night trapped between rocks.     
     We lifted him into his chair and asked what we could get him. He motioned to plastic bags scattered in the dirt. “My beer,” he slurred.     
     I dug into the torn bags and found jars of peanut butter and jelly, a dirty plastic spoon, a...

What's Eating You?

     This beetle and his cousins camped out on a lush vine covering our arbor and devoured it like some Biblical plague. Little things have been chewing on me lately, too. Irritations that bug me. Interruptions that chomp holes in my foliage. I finally slowed down enough to run a diagnostic on what’s eating me: I haven’t been nourishing myself with enough pure and simple quiet time.     
     I remember a song by John Fischer that claims we’re made to live a still life. A life “quiet eno...