Roger Bothwell

More than once Ronald Reagan said in relationship to our relationship with the USSR, “Trust, but verify.”  After repeating it at the signing INF Treaty Mikhail Gorbachev responded, “You repeat that at every meeting.”  President Reagan said, “I like it.”   Me too.

I especially like it in our relationship with God.  Over and over God expects us to trust Him but He does not expect us to do so without some personal verification.  Hebrews 11 says, “Faith is the substance of things unseen.”   Please note even though unseen there is substance.   When Jesus called Peter, James, John and Andrew to follow Him, He had just filled their nets with fish.  He was saying I know you have family responsibilities. Follow me and those obligations will be met.   Earlier He said to them, “Come and see.”

God does not expect blind faith.  God gave us minds to use and He expects us to verify.  He does not want us to follow just anyone or anything because we have some unverified trust.  God backs up His word with evidence.  However, He always leaves that last little bit that is sometimes called “a leap of faith.”  While I love the song, Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so, I also realize that is for children.  Paul says, “Now that I am a man I think like a man.”    Men, big people, are tasked to give a reason for our faith.  Peter wrote, “Always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you.”

We are not the blind following the blind.  We trust but being the big people that we are we verify.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 19, 2010

rogerbothwell.org

 

I’m sure we all remember Mark 9:36 where Jesus takes a small child up into His arms.  What a story that child had to tell the rest of his or her life. Well, this morning I watched something just as good.  I was in a Kindergarten supervising a student teacher.  It was circle time and the children were all gathered on a rug while the student teacher read to them and taught them their lesson.  Repeatedly the children had to be moved back. And just as soon as they were the student teacher’s magnetic charm automatically drew the children closer and closer.  It was impossible for the children to resist the loving attitude and appeal.  They all wanted to sit on her lap.  If I had a small child, I would want him in that room.

There is no argument to be made against the principle that love attracts.  We cannot help ourselves.  We are drawn to it like children to a candy counter.  There is no question that most of the people that flocked to see Jesus were miracle gawkers. These were the same ones who quickly turned on Him.  However, the ones drawn by His love were the ones who stayed faithful. Just as soon as John got over the initial fright and confusion of the arrest in the garden, he got himself into the trial chamber and stayed as close to Jesus as possible all the way to the cross.

The very first song I ever learned was “Jesus Loves Me.”  Many decades later I am still moved by the power of its simplicity.  I know of very few debates over Jesus’ human/divine nature or the power of sin that have ever been as magnetic as that little song.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 9, 2010

rogerbothwell.org

 

With very little speech occurring I sat at the kitchen counter this evening and watched my wife prepare our light supper.  One of life’s great pleasures is watching someone you love.  If being apart from a loved one and not being able to see them is one of life’s trials then being with a loved one and seeing them is one of life’s greatest blessings.

I do so enjoy being with my grandchildren.  While the noise they make could be cacophony to someone else, it is to me finer than the fruit of any composer.  Some of the best weekends I have ever experienced are not ones filled with activity, but instead ones filled with loved ones presence.

Matthew 9:36 is an enjoyable verse, “When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”  Jesus enjoyed watching people.  In Matthew 25 we read, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  Verse after verse we hear Jesus say, “Come.”

When we do that not only can He watch us but we can watch him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 3. 2010

rogerbothwell.org

While waiting for a traffic light to turn green I noticed a sign with the big letters, “FREE.”  Strewn around it was some of the most despicable junk I had ever seen.  I was hoping others had already taken the things of substance, if there ever was any.   The scene set my mind to thinking about yard sales and what a great story someone could write about God having a universe sale.  There could be an array of used angel robes, antique crowns, old record books that have since been replaced with a computerized record keeping system and a planet or two.   If earth was for sale it would seem to deserve a big “Free” sign.  There could be an explanation paragraph.  “Well used, extremely polluted, rebellious population prone to warring, shaking a lot and running out of resources.”   However, no such sign would exist because God already purchased Earth.  It seems strange that He would have to purchase that which He made.  He paid dearly.

And why would God pay the price of the cross?  John 3:16 answers, “For God so loved the world.”  Isn’t that amazing?   God must be like the man at a flea market who purchased an old painting because he saw the great value of the frame.   God must see something here we don’t see.  God sees potential.          He sees souls, while not yet great, but indeed on the way to becoming great. God loves great souls.  And what is a great soul?  Is it someone with tons of talent?  Not really. The talent can be added later.  A truly great soul is one who is willing to allow God to do scads of interior decorating.  The end product will be out of this world.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 12, 2010

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

While it is true that birds of a feather do flock together it is also true that flocking together alters our feathers.   Our norms, our standards of what is acceptable, our eating habits, our standards of beauty, our vocabulary and our attitudes toward right and wrong merge into a social network that in turn forms who we are.  So much of what we are, who we are, what we are becoming and who we are becoming are the fruit of our choices. If we are an adult we can choose how to spend not only our spare time but how we spend our work time by the choice of a career or work place.

It is so very important for us to understand the importance of our total environment’s impact on who we are.  There is no such thing as watching a movie, reading a book or being friends with someone without it altering our personality and character.  Things, events and people affect us even though they might be removed from us by several degrees of separation.  What happens to your boss’s wife affects him.  He affects you and you affect your children.  Your children will most likely never meet your boss’s wife but she has changed their lives.  The things we watch on the network evening news change our lives.

We cannot over emphasize the importance of personal choice in each day’s activities.  While there are so many things over which we have no control there are hundreds of things that are up to us.  This is where the influence and the power of the Holy Spirit mean so much.  We must claim the promise of Jesus in John that He will always be with us via His Spirit.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 4, 2010

rogerbothwell.org

My wife was first to spot it.  There in the parking lot was a panel truck with the following message on the side, “Dent Redemption – We make it whole.”  Then in smaller font it said, “Paintless Dent Removal.”  Jesus touched the eyes of a blind man and he saw.   He didn’t use paint but He did use mud and spit.  Interesting.  See Mark 7 and 8.  A leper came to Him missing body parts.  Jesus made him whole.  The litany can go on and on. The point is Jesus makes people whole.  He takes out our dents and He doesn’t paint over our sins.  He actually removes them.  See I John 1:9.

I understand if I am cremated my wife will not only get my ashes but she will also receive my metal knee and metal hip.  That should make an interesting urn.  I certainly will never need any of those things ever again, because according to Paul in I Corinthians 15 my resurrected body will be whole and as different from this imperfect one as a seed is from what grows from the seed.

The fact is we do get dents as life moves along.  Some of them are from our own stupidity and other dents happen because others run into us.  Our souls take on experience and become very unique because of the dents.  While God never dents us He does take advantage of our self and other imposed dents to make us better people.   In Romans 8 Paul wrote that all things work together for good to those that love God.   Sometimes that is very difficult to understand but by faith we believe it is true.  Jesus is the ultimate dent redeemer.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 4, 2010

rogerbothwell.org

It’s a pretty hill with horse paddocks and spring flowers blossoming from the fertile Massachusetts soil.  One would not think too much about it if it were not for a small stone memorial by the road.  One horrible night in 1675 it wasn’t so tranquil.  Native Americans swept over the hill destroying the small homes of the settlers.  While standing by the marker I tried to imagine the carnage, the gunfire, the roar of flames, the scalping, and the screams of terror of the children and others who perished midst the war cries of the slayers.  I know this place well because it is adjacent to our little New England college.

Walking back to my classroom I looked over the faces of thirty-four students waiting for me to interrupt their tunes and texting as I asked them to turn off all their electronic gear.  Their faces are as deceptive as that tranquil hillside.  Without the marker no one would ever know about the hill’s violent night.  Unless my students tell me, I have no idea what their lives are all about.   They range in ages from 18 to 40.  Each has a story. Some are stories of a happy home and others could most likely tell tales that would raise the hair on our necks.   Sometimes they fill me with exasperation but I try to not say what my impulses want to say.  I have already made the mistake of saying things in jest only to have them break into tears.  That is crushing to me and to them.

I am not surprised that Jesus told us not to judge others.  We cannot make accurate assessments because we have not been where they have been nor have we shared their joys and their pains.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 19, 2010

rogerbothwell.org

 

I first saw him literally shuffling into our local market.  He was hard to miss; cashmere sport jacket, wool scarf, Stetson hat, white mustache, white hair flowing out from under the hat, bushy eyebrows, glasses on the tip of his nose and a twinkle in his blue eyes.  I asked him how he was and I never said another word for the next twenty-five minutes while my wife shopped and then came and pulled me away from him.  He was as British as one can be; eighty-eight years old, lonely, a widower for the past two years.  I heard all about WWII in London; bomb shelters, Yanks, airmen, uniforms and officers.

I have met others like him.  As he spoke of the war there was vibrancy in his eyes. Some men love war.  I think they are the ones who never hit the beaches. They are the ones whose lives were full of the adventure of new places, meeting new people, learning new skills and not having to go to a 9 to 5 job.   Theodore Roosevelt glamorized war and was continually enamored with it until his son died in combat.  Suddenly it wasn’t so wonderful anymore.  There is a dear price to pay for the handsome uniforms and the adrenaline rush.

As I left him he said, “You Yanks are really quite boring.”  I guess I was. I never said one interesting thing.  All I said was “How are you?” and “I have to go.”  Truthfully I would like to have listened to more of his stories.  People really are the most interesting animal on earth.  God must be interesting; after all we are made in His image.  He must have some great stories to tell.  He knows them all.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 27, 2010

rogerbothwell.org

Having very few items of much value my wife and I rarely think about something being taken.  However, in the past few weeks our home has had a steady stream of workers doing remodeling tasks.  Not believing anyone would actually take something, we did decide not to create a temptation.

Therefore, we decided to hide one item that has sentimental value and is small enough to “walk away.”  Now comes the really interesting part.  We cannot remember where we hid it!  Doesn’t that take the cake?  Two old people rummaging about in their own home looking for something they hid just a couple weeks ago.   I think we have reached the stage of life when we can hide our own Easter eggs on Good Friday and be genuinely surprised on          Sunday Morning when we find them.

Ever since I was a very little boy I have systematically learned memory verses from Scripture.  The text “Thy Word have I hid in my hard that I might not sin against thee” was one of the very first verses I learned.  I still know it is      Psalm 119:11.  Understanding that it should be a long time until my wife or I suffer long-term memory loss, as opposed to short-term memory loss, it should be quite a while before I forget that verse.  I cannot think of anything more valuable to retain than God’s Word.  However, to retain one first has to learn.  There are so many situations in life that stimulate the memory of     God’s Word.  Just this very morning one of my students commented about something he owned that instantly brought to mind, “Thou shall not covet.”  I won’t mention what wonder he owned that almost made me break           Exodus 20:17.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 23, 2010

Rogerbothwell.org

 

If the wind blows just right four times a day we can hear a deep throated whistle blast from our downtown fire station.  It has been this way for decades back into the past century.  Eight A.M. signals the beginning of the workday.  Noon signals lunch.  Six P.M. signals the end of the workday and 9 P.M. reminds people to tend to stoves and lanterns before going to bed.

It’s nice.  It’s a tie to a past that seems to be rushing away from us.  The sound of the blast from the firehouse almost makes one think if one went down to the firehouse one would see firemen busy putting big fire horses up for the night under the watchful eye of a Dalmatian.

People need to remember. We need to be reminded of our roots.  It’s a value system grounded in hard work and simplicity.  Our traditions tell us who we are.  We are not refugees in a sea of angst.  We are travelers with purpose and goals.  We care about community and neighbors.  The neighborhood school isn’t there merely for our children but for all children with dreams and ambitions.  The local little league baseball teams or the football or soccer leagues get us out of our electronically sequestered lives and we see and talk to real people just like ourselves.

Families need traditions and customs that tie each to each.  Modernity fills us with so many weekday responsibilities we must make efforts to make Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays special.   Sitting around the table actually looking at each other as we talk and eat, going to church, taking a weekend jaunt together, these are the things our children will remember and cherish after we are gone.  These give us identity.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 6, 2010

rogerbothwell.org