Blog Archives - trish hermanson

Not a Silent Night

12/22/2022

It was not a silent night with all calm and bright when Jesus was born. It was a war zone! Picture a woman crying in pain as she is about to give birth, and an enormous red dragon standing there waiting to devour her child. That’s what Jesus’ friend John recorded from a frightening vision that some interpret as the behind-the-scenes nativity story.
     Back to the woman and the dragon: God snatched up the newborn to protect him. Then all hell broke loose in heaven. An army of angels fought against the dragon - Satan - and his troops and hurled them down to earth.
     Perhaps it was then that a battle-scarred angel ripped open the curtain between heaven and earth and terrified some sleepy shepherds. A platoon of heavenly warriors burst into a victory chant: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
     And that little town of Bethlehem? “How still we see thee lie?” That didn’t last. King Herod feared that a new king had been born to take his throne, so he ordered the slaughter of babies there. Bethlehem wept with grief for a generation. But God had warned Jesus’ family, and they fled to safety in Egypt.
     “Silent night. All is calm. All is bright?” No way! Jesus’ birth and survival were at the front line of a cosmic battle that spilled onto earth. And God won, giving us a savior who is Christ the Lord!

Deck the Halls with Boughs of "Folly?"

12/6/2022

We didn’t plan to deck the halls with boughs of “folly” this year, but that’s what happened.
     Our oldest grandchildren who usually helped us trim the artificial tree weren’t available. So we tapped three younger, untrained grandkids.
     I turned on Christmas carols, and with more enthusiasm than understanding the kids assembled branches on the tree - but upside down. I hadn’t thought to tell them about that. Then they didn’t quite hear my instructions about color-coded branches, and they positioned the shortest ones on the bottom - an upside down tree. No longer was I calm and bright. One of them had to dive underneath and replace lower branches with longer ones.
     A competition heated up over who would hang the star upon the highest bough. While others placed ornaments, one sneaked up a step stool and set the star. Any joy to the world I’d felt evaporated. I told him, “You got to do that, so the others get to arrange the manger scene.” That was the next big prize in their minds. I thought of a number between one and ten, and the one who came closest went first in the setup, followed by the other.
  Somehow the tree turned out looking better than Charlie Brown’s, and we’d made a good memory. But conflicts and mess-ups reminded me that in everything, even Christmas decorating, we need Jesus to teach us how to love each other. We need a savior.