Trish Hermanson's Blog: Croutons - Seasoned Bits of Life, page 5

Is God a Vending Machine?

     Recently seven members of my family have suffered from COVID, a daughter is scheduled for surgery, my toddler grandson broke his wrist, another grandson is starting vision therapy, and I’m being treated for cancer. In times like this, I wish God were a vending machine and I could insert a coin, punch a selection, and out would drop whatever I ask for.
     Some folks tell me that’s all I need to do. Just pray the right prayer, or pump up enough faith, or live a good enough life, or na...

'Trash Doesn't Lie' but Reveals All

     As we enter Black History month, I recall discovering this pottery shard when Duane and I explored the ruins of a sugar plantation on St. Croix Island in the Caribbean. With the push of a shovel, this piece of history rose to the surface.
     Notice the finely tailored people on this fragment from a dish? They are like the Danish family that once lifted silverware to eat from this plate. But if anything broke, their slaves buried it along with other garbage at the edge of the plantat...

I Got Cancer

     You’d think this toppled tree is dead.  But look above me - a green canopy nourished by a massive root system. I’m particularly aware of my need for a deep root system these days since I got toppled by a diagnosis of cancer.
     Prognosis? No treatment plan can guarantee my physical healing But I have a hundred percent guarantee of being well spiritually if I draw upon a healthy root system instead of listening to that old root killer “fear.” I’m going to die some day anyway - maybe ...

Am I Willing to Speak Up?

     Am I willing to speak up about things that matter? About lies that lead people into conspiracy theories that can lead to anger and sometimes violence?
     But how should I speak up?
      “Time is cluttered with the wreckage of communities which surrendered to hatred and violence,” Martin Luther King Jr. said. “For the salvation of our nation and the salvation of mankind, we must follow another way.”
     King resisted the temptation to fan the flames of anger with more inflammatory la...

When the Gate Swings Open to Another World

     Every once in awhile an invisible gate swings opens before me, and I realize I’m living in two dramas - the world around me and an unseen world.
     That happened when we sold our ranch-style home. We’d completed upgrades that we loved: installing wood and tile flooring everywhere except the living room that we kept carpeted, and turning two bedrooms into one to create a master area with a separate retreat.
     We loved it, but then we sensed it was time to “right-size.” Crazy, I kno...

Does Character Matter Anymore?

     Remember when character mattered?     
     When doing what was right was more important than getting our own way? When truth was valued more than holding onto a fabrication of what we want?      
     I miss those days when Washington and Lincoln were our heroes. They weren’t perfect, but their ethics embodied what made our civilization “civil.”     
     We’ve lost that.     
     Instead, today we fall into idolizing political, sports, and entertainment figures for their fame, and sim...

Beware of the Blind Curve Ahead....

     When I saw this sign along the trail, I realized what good advice this is for me for the New Year. After all, who imagined what would race toward me around the blind curves of this past year? It was pandemic, street pandemonium, and political tirades.
     I can’t predict what’s around the next corner in my life. None of us can. But when it veers toward me, I can choose to “keep right.” I’m not talking politics here. I’m saying I can choose to speak and do what’s right.
     Otherwise,...

What Ripped You Apart This Year?

     What ripped you apart this year?
     The loss of a loved one to COVID? The loss of a job? The loss of a political candidate?
     We’ve all been ripped apart one way or another. But during these days in which we continue to be pulled apart by political mud slinging, let’s remember our commonality.
     Whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, a Libertarian, or refuse to associate with any of the above, and whether you’re red, brown, yellow, black, or white, we share this beautiful spin...

God is Wild!

     God is wild. He made sex, after all. And he’s smart; he could have made lips into bones, but he knew better.
     Do I have your attention yet?
     God is lavish, too, with a crazy sense of humor. He delights in animals as bright as macaws and as dull as slugs. As tall as giraffes and as small as bugs. He made people tall and small, too. But then came the fall - a cosmic fracturing of relationships, ecology, everything.
     However, God wouldn’t let his world stay permanently ruptured...

I Have No Hope Anywhere Else

     I have no hope anywhere else.
     Not in conspiracy theories.
     Not in claims of election fraud with no hard evidence.
     Not in those who would subvert the Constitution rather than support democracy.
     Not in politicians on either side of the aisle who choose party over principles.
     Not in the masses from any political persuasion who believe that violence, burning, and looting are a solution.
     Not in those American Christians who bow down to bullying and braggadocio rathe...