Category: Spirituality - trish hermanson

Covid Stole His Career and Home but Not His Heart

9/30/2021

The Covid financial downturn stole Rollins’ career and his home - but not his heart.
     With degrees in astrophysics and molecular biology, Rollin had sold scientific equipment for two decades. But the pandemic dried up his business and his bank account. “You think this will never happen to you.” He smiled as we talked in a park. “But it can.”
      Rollin turned to traffic flagging until some guys stole his wallet and i.d.s, then he ended up huddled by a dumpster at night. It was next to a Christian mission where humble folks offered him food and hope.
     “I’d blamed God for everything,” he says. “Then one day I heard an audible voice - not from a person - that all this happened for a reason.”
     “What reason?” I asked.
     He smiled. “So I can give.”
     Then a medical setback. A doctor who offered free medical care told Rollin that with his ongoing muscular sclerosis he has only a year to live. “First I was depressed. But I decided to see what I could do in 365 days.” So each day he walks streets where the homeless hang out, telling about the hope he has from Jesus. “They trust me.”
     As we talked, he shot his trademark grin at some homeless near us. He excused himself to greet them and approached with a friendly “hello.” Observing him, I wondered what I would do if I knew I had only a year to live. Perhaps I should do those things now because I don’t know what my life span is.

My Wabi-Sabi Pot

8/26/2021

I’m holding a pot crafted by my friend Chris, who was thrown off the wheel of life and lay on the ground like a lump of wet clay, her dreams, her marriage, her family, and her heart all broken.
     But that’s not the end of her story.
     Chris picked up each bit of damp clay and climbed back onto the potter’s wheel. It took years of work, sometimes letting go of pieces of her life, sometimes seeing pieces come together. Now she’s taken on a new shape, one she calls “wabi-sabi.” That’s a Japanese term describing that true beauty reveals itself among imperfections. Cracks, chips, and irregularities all provide authenticity. I see this in Chris. Not in spite of her hardships, perhaps because of them, she lives with contentment and freedom she never experienced before.
As a ceramic artist, Chris says, “My pots aren’t perfect, but hopefully artful with personality.” I treasure this one she gave me with feet she added when "it didn’t set just right.” This encourages me that even when I don’t set just right, I can still be artful with personality. And I can recognize beauty in others even with their flaws.
  Someday all of life's clay will be refashioned perfectly. The Master Potter, Jesus, will create a new Earth with all the fallen pieces re-formed. Until then, I keep climbing onto his potter’s wheel to be reshaped, as this song describes.

We Watched Life Swept Away by the Current

7/5/2021

Duane and I marveled at the sight of a fledgling as it launched out of a cottonwood and wobbled through the air on its first flight. But then it landed in the nearby creek, flapping its baby wings frantically to escape. Duane hustled down to the water’s edge and reached in to rescue it, but the fast-moving current swept it downstream.
     Gone.
     Drowned.
     And I sobbed. Such a waste of a beautiful life that had only begun to fly. But it landed in a place it should never have gone and was swept into a current it could never handle.
     As can happen with us. Sometimes we’re fledglings in relationships. Or careers. Sometimes we fly into places we should never go or aren’t ready for. Then the current sweeps us away.
     Downstream, Duane and I searched the creek bank, but didn’t find the little bird. Then I remembered Jesus’ words that God knows even when a sparrow falls to the ground, and that I’m worth more than a flock of sparrows. So when I make disastrous landings, I can reach up toward heaven, and God will pluck me out of the current.
  I’ll still be soaked with the consequences of my choices, but I’ll be back on safe ground.

Sanding Out Gouges in My Life

6/18/2021

When I was refinishing an old oak table recently I ran across a gouge left decades ago when one of our little girls was exploring that forks could be weapons. Could I sand it out? No, that would leave an ugly divot. Besides, the pockmark is part of the table’s history.
     I carry gouges in the tabletop of my life, too. I became aware of a particular one when Duane and I bought that table unfinished and I spent hours sanding it. The process of smoothing it raised some grain in my emotions - a scar from a job where my boss wielded authority in such a way I was left emotionally abused. As I sanded, anger and grief rose in me, and my tears spattered across the unfinished wood. Was reconciliation possible? I didn’t think so, but I asked God for compassion and forgiveness for her. Years later with trepidation I hosted her for a meal at that table. The conversation was cordial - but not honest. Unsatisfying.
     More years passed. The woman died. Here I was sanding the table again, and the old pain surfaced. My former boss still wields power over me from the grave. How much better it would have been if we had come clean with each other.
  A gouge remains in me. But the hurt is less. The scar is smaller. And in the unfathomable way that God turns the tables on our troubles, it reminds me of how important it is to forgive because I have been forgiven much.

How I Discovered Treasures in Darkness

3/19/2021

Following cancer surgery recently, I recalled my exploration in South Dakota’s Jewel Cave, the third largest underground chamber in the world. As I descended into the damp cavern, gloom wrapped around me - nothing but darkness and eerie silence. Then a guide shot a beam of light at a cave wall, and calcite crystals sparkled back - treasures in darkness.
     Lately I’ve experienced so much confusion with cancer. How does this impact my future? How should I treat it? Lots of contradictory advice.
     Yet occasionally gems sparkled in the darkness. Like the time a friend said I’d been on her mind, so she prayed; she didn’t know I was undergoing grueling medical tests. Another day a neighbor left a bouquet of flowers on our front step. A cheery card arrived in the mail. An encouraging email popped up. And supportive comments poured onto Face Book. I’m humbled by such kindnesses that inched me forward through the dark tunnels of cancer.
I remember God’s statement to the king of the Persian Empire more than two thousand years ago: “I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord.”
     Perhaps this is one reason I experience dark times - to discover that when all else is murky, I can be confident that God still rules.
You’ve shown me great compassion during this time. Thank you. I hope to pass it along to others when they are trapped in darkness.