trish hermanson - Home

Help George - We're Desperate!

2/17/2020

Do you experience “outrage exhaustion” from politics these days? Sometimes I do. How different our bickering and backbiting are from George Washington’s approach. He was known to honor everyone, according to biographer Mason Locke Weems.
     How did the general and president develop such humility? Some trace it to his schooling as a teen when he hand copied 110 “Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour.” These axioms, first developed by French Jesuits, are enjoying a surge of popularity today during our fractious times because we desperately need them.
     Some are outdated - “Spit not in the Fire, nor…Set your Feet upon the Fire especially if there be meat before it.” But most are applicable. Ponder these:
     “Be not apt to relate news if you know not the truth thereof.” What a great maxim when considering whether to share a Facebook or Twitter post.
     “Speak not injurious Words neither in Jest nor Earnest.” What a challenge to speak only words that build up and don’t tear down.
     “Always Submit your Judgment to others with Modesty.” Am I willing to express my convictions with humility during this election season?
     Here’s my favorite: “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”
     Imagine that this “celestial fire” burned within us again. By George, we’d be as civil as Washington.
     All 110 of Washington’s rules are here. and a song that helps me shut my mouth when I should is here.

The Dark Side of St. Valentine's Day

2/9/2020

Valentine’s Day is one of the saddest times of the year. Why? Because the day is often a reminder of loss - of what once was or what never has been. It’s a crushing day for those who have suffered a romantic relationship loss - and who hasn’t?
     So it’s refreshing to see folks broaden the celebration into Pal-entine’s Day, a time to honor close friends through notes, gifts, and gatherings. We know how much our soul mates have made our lives better. This is a time to let them know.
     Here's my favorite buddy song to sing along with as you think about those special people in your life.
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Photo from “Guidepost” with text added.

What Would You Name the 7 Dwarfs Today?

2/6/2020

Walt Disney named his seven dwarfs after attitudes he observed around him. If he were naming dwarfs to reflect attitudes during this presidential election season, what might he choose?
     Here’s my list, and please notice I’m not pointing a finger at any particular candidate. Voices like these shout from all corners in our national conversation.
      * MESSIAH - “Trust me. I can fix anything.”
  * SENTIMENTALIZER - “Remember the good old days? You deserve better again.”
     * TRUTH TWISTER - “What I say is true. What others say is baloney.”
     * DEMONIZER - “That person is a (insert clever, disgusting nickname).”
     * FEAR-MONGER - “They aren’t like us. They threaten our way of life.”
     * PARTISAN - “Our party’s always right. No matter what it takes to reach our goals, it’s worth it.”
     * ISOLATIONIST - “Other countries matter only as they support our American agenda. Otherwise, don’t worry about their problems.”
     We used to call the use of these techniques propaganda. Now we’ve normalized it. But don’t be fooled. We pay a price for falling for such lines. We divide into “left wing” and "right wing,” forgetting that our American eagle is meant to be one bird, indivisible, not carved up like a turkey where nothing remains but the carcass.
     I want to resist believing and repeating these messages lest I become like one of the original dwarfs - DOPEY.
     ***    Artwork from Clipart Panda with text added.

The Tragedy of Running from My Shadow

1/30/2020

I laughed my way through Bill Murray’s movie “Groundhog Day” as I watched it again in preparation for this year’s event on February 2. Murray plays Phil, a self-centered TV meteorologist, who dreads covering the same Groundhog Day ceremony every year where a woodchuck supposedly forecasts the weather. If the rodent sees his shadow, he scoots back into his hole, and we have six more weeks of winter.
     But just as the groundhog won’t face his shadow, Phil won’t face the shadows of his personality. He’s incapable of caring about anyone’s needs or feelings beyond himself, and he is destined to relive Groundhog Day, with all its monotony, every day for years. Only when he learns to care about others does the clock advance into a new day, and he’s free.
     I wonder how much of Phil is in me. Am I sometimes unwilling to face the shadow side of my personality? Do I destine myself to failure because of a pattern of self-centeredness? Or negativity? Or unforgiveness?
     Such habits defeat me until I face them, get out of myself, and embrace life’s sunshine, instead of running from it.
  Maybe we all have a bit of Phil in us. We see the shadow sides of our lives and run for cover. Wouldn’t it be better to acknowledge the darkness and turn toward the Light?

What Great Adventure Awaits You?

1/23/2020

Trust me, Duane and I are not that adventurous. This is a trick photo taken at an exhibit on extreme sports. But although I’m not a big risk-taker, this expo got me thinking about a radical claim from author Harold Myra about our unpredictable, sometimes scary lives. “The truth is, we’re all plopped down in circumstances that can threaten, dishearten, or even overwhelm us. Only as we see life as an adventure from God do we experience life’s tang and purpose.”
     Life as an adventure from God? How can a cautious person like me buy into this? It helps when I recognize that my story is part of a bigger story. That the little deeds I do, though simple, can contribute toward God’s goal of mending this broken world. Even taking tiny risks like smiling at a stranger or giving a casserole to a neighbor matter because they are actions in the direction of how the world was meant to be - and how God wants it to be.
     Another author, Luci Shaw, challenges me: “Has your heart ever been blown open by the sudden exhilarating thought, ‘This could be my Year of Living the Adventure?’ And if not, why not?”
     Singer Steven Curtis Chapman captures this call to us.