Roger Bothwell

As you can imagine with several feet of snow beginning to melt there are streams of water running down our New England streets often hiding this year’s new crop of potholes.  Potholes are nature’s way of telling us we do not have its permission to drive cars.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year for businesses that sell tires.  Last week when I picked up our car from the shop the mechanic had it all washed and shiny.  That was a labor of futility.   By the time I got to the first traffic light the car was covered with salty, gritty, muddy water.  He really should not have bothered to clean it.

This is so much like our attempts to be righteous and have a clean heart.  We are living in a world of moral potholes filled with sinful gritty slime designed to keep us dirty.  I once had a church member who told me how good he was because he prayed three times every day and asked for God to forgive him his sins.  He felt like he could go six hours or so without sinning and thus he could stay clean by praying so often.  Really?  That would be like me washing my car three times a day while continuing to drive on our city streets.

Part of the problem was his understanding of sin.  He thought sin was an act, a deed or some kind of performance.  Sin is much more than that.  Sin is a condition.   Sin is a state of being.  Sin is selfishness that oozes from our almost every thought. This is why Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15 that corruption must put on incorruption before we go to heaven.  Until that happens we are indeed forgiven but we are forgiven sinners.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 6, 2015

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Our dog is having a bad time tonight.  We have glass covered bookcases and she keeps seeing another dog inside the bookcase.  When I open the case that other dog goes away.  When the glass comes down the dog comes back. It is very troubling and cause for concerned growling.  It’s hard to rest with that other dog invading her space.

This is an easy analogy.  When we spend time looking at ourselves, unless we are quite taken with ourselves, life becomes troubled.  One or more of several things can happen.  Number one – we can begin to concentrate on our imperfections and become discouraged with our lack of progress in overcoming.  Or number two – we can start feeling sorry for ourselves thinking we are not getting all the good things we deserve.  Or number three – we can think others are expecting too much from us. Or number four – we can start thinking people are out to get us.   The list could go on depending on our personalities.  The point is looking at ourselves is rarely productive.  Life works best when instead we spend our productive hours looking for opportunities to do our job better or to find inventive ways to make others lives happier.

I’m reminded of the old nursery rhyme that goes like this.  “Nobody loves me.  Everybody hates me.  Guess I’ll go eat worms.  Long, thin, slimy ones; short, fat, juicy ones, itsy, bitsy, fuzzy wuzzy worms.”   Just in case you ever get to feeling like that allow me to remind you that “Nobody loves me” just isn’t true.  We are very loved.  And we can always count on that love.  It endures despite our sometimes unloveableness.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 10, 2010

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There is a book and movie about the life of Adolf Hitler that has generated a considerable amount of criticism because they reveal his human side.  He is not depicted as a homicidal maniac but as a person with characteristics and behaviors like us.  We are most uncomfortable with this.  We want him to be as much unlike us as possible.  We want him to be a mad man from his youth to his death.  We do not want to acknowledge his oratorical talents and mastery of human psychology.  If he is like us then logic might suggest we also could mastermind the horror of a holocaust—an ugly truth we would rather not face.

Unfortunately, psychological research reveals the unpleasant truth that most people under certain stimuli will actually do the things of their nightmares.  The battle has raged for years.  Are we evil by nature or are we basically good?  The answer seems to be “Yes.”  On any given day we are capable of incredible acts of unselfishness and self-sacrifice.  There is a bit-albeit just a bit of saintliness in us all.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  Romans 3:23-24.

It is a blow to our dignity to think we cannot be good enough to be saved.  Nevertheless, once we get over it and face the truth, it is at that point that we receive The Gift—the justifying grace of Jesus Christ.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 2, 2003

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If you have or have had a dog you will understand how quickly they learn the word “walk.”   You think they are asleep and you casually say “walk” and instantly they are dancing in front of you.  “Where’s the leash?  Let’s go.  Stop messing with your coat.  Why don’t you wear one all the time like I do?”   So you stop using that word and replace it with “go around.”  A week later they know those words.  Then you start spelling but that also is quickly learned.  In our house we are now working on the word, “circumvent.”  It’s only a matter of time.

Initially I thought of writing about why we keep pets and making an analogy as to why God keeps us.  However, that is a horrible analogy because we are not God’s pets.  We are God’s children.  There is a huge difference. No matter how much time I spend teaching my dog, she will never comprehend thoughtful issues. She knows to protect her territory (our home).  She searches the house and starts bumping me when food is on the table.  As grand as those things are they are not reading or creating art.  Nose art on the car windows doesn’t count.  In some ways she is more loyal than most people.  She is more forgiving than most of us.  She understands shame and will, until she is too old, dance when I come home.

However, despite all her ingratiating qualities, she will never bring me the deepest feelings of satisfaction that I get from my sons.  God knows this satisfaction.  If we are to be in His image He had to give us the ability to procreate.  It is the closest thing we can do to bring us into His image.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 26, 2013

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She had just finished baking five of the most luscious hot steamy cinnamon rolls.  Leaving them on the kitchen counter she went upstairs for a moment but returning quickly her mouth all ready to experience a gastronomic delight.  However, they were gone.  The only trace of their existence was the scent and a trail of icing on the kitchen counter.  In the next room an incredibly contented Labrador retriever lay sleeping with a smile on her face.  Telltale white icing was on her chin and cinnamon was on her breath.  She was nailed!!

The question remained, “What to do with her?”  It would have been so easy to get angry.  But how could that profit?  It would only add insult to injury because every time we get angry we release all kinds of chemicals and stress producers into our systems.  Each time we grow angry we harm ourselves more than the person or dog with whom we are displeased. Or we can “turn the other cheek.”

When Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek He is giving us practical counsel.  Not only does turning the other cheek defuse the situation, it also reduces our internal stress level thus enabling us to live a longer, happier life.  Everything Jesus asks us to do is for our benefit.  He is so very sensible.

Written by Roger Bothwell on Sept. 3, 2002

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I’m trying to decide which season I enjoy the most.  While I enjoy the warm days of summer when I go to the grocery store in the summer, people appear in all manner of undress.  Maybe one in fifty is attractive.  The rest should be wearing many more garments to cover up tattoos and rolls of flesh indicating they have been to the grocery store too many times.  I like winter time because it is all covered up.  Walmart isn’t the only scary place.

Genesis 2:25 says, “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”  That was because they were perfect and looked really good.  If people looked that good today I’m sure the super market would be even more revealing.  Genesis 3:7 says, “They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”  Oh for a produce department that sold fig leaves.

There are a lot of things about people that need to be covered up.  Too often people expose way too much about their personal life.  I shudder inside when in church and before the morning prayer someone asks for prayer requests.  Way too much is often said while asking for prayers.  “Pray for my sister’s son who is an axe murderer.”  I really didn’t need to know that!

I realize there is a cathartic need to stop harboring pain but that is one of the functions of real prayer – private prayer.  I John 1:9 admonishes us to confess our sins, but that is to the great loving silent Father who knows how to keep secrets.   Best of all He is available during all seasons of the year.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 22, 2016

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I was shocked when I looked into our birdbath.  There must have been 10,000 mosquito larva swimming and growing and ever so anxious to soon make my life an itching, scratching horror.  They are so tiny and yet if in the right environment so lethal.  Things don’t have to be big to be dangerous.  Actually we do pretty good protecting ourselves from the big dangers.  It’s the microbes, viruses and bacteria that can take us out. It’s the little guys.

This is much like sin.  I’ve never robbed a bank nor have I murdered anyone.  Those big ones I can deal with.   It’s the tiny ones that I sometimes excuse for the very reason that they are tiny.  Those feelings of pride and being better than another, those are the truly dangerous ones.  Just this morning I referred to someone as being sub.  I will not elaborate by telling you sub what.  I cannot imagine Jesus ever thinking of someone as sub.  The lepers were worthy of His care.  The publicans (tax collectors for the hated Romans) were His dinner companions.  Ladies of the night were treated with respect.  The people He had the toughest time with were the smug.  Smug is a nasty disease.  Smug sneaks up on us and lives in us without our being aware.  Smug alienates.  Smug kills.

I used to be discouraged when I read in the Sermon on the Mount that I was to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.  Really?  Then came the joy of learning that just as salvation itself is a gift so is the victory over all those character infecting little guys a gift.  In Ephesians 2 Paul assures us that this whole process from A to Z is all Jesus.  Such Good News.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 19, 2014

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There is a new dog book on the best seller list entitled, “You Had Me at Woof” by Julie Klam.  Obviously the title is a takeoff on a movie line, “You had me at hello.”   I think I could go one better since I was smitten with my wife before I had a chance to say “Hello.”  She was fourteen and was on the platform in church.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.  Being that I cannot remember not going to church Jesus was always a part of my life.  I have often wondered what it is like for someone to fall in love with Jesus. When would they say Jesus had them?  Was it the first time they heard about the cross and the resurrection?  Or would they say, “You had me at John 3:16?”

What is it that attracts people to the story of someone who lived here two thousand years ago?  Could it be a soul hunger that haunts us with the truth that there has to be something more than this seventy years?  I have a friend who upon passing away filled me with a sense of waste.  He was brilliant.  He was a theologian.  He knew the Biblical languages like we know English.  He was kind and thoughtful.  To just bury all that in a box is so wrong.  There has to be more.

The story of Jesus answers that need for more.  His personal righteousness, His promises, His own death and resurrection, His emphasis on a personal Father God all speak to our spiritual and psychological needs.  Perhaps if I had first heard of Jesus when I was an adult I would have said, “You had me when you washed Judas’ feet.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 14, 2011

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Riding on grandpa’s shoulders was just the place to be.  Very quickly the wee little one learned how to steer her grandpa just like a horse anywhere she wanted to go.

How grand it would be to be so led by the Holy Spirit.  In our quest to grow more into the likeness of our heavenly Father we ask for guidance.  Jesus promised in John 16:13, “But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

The Spirit does come and does guide but not quite so obviously as putting His hands on our heads and steering us.  Instead the Spirit moves on the inside.  He woos and influences.  He courts and plants thoughts and ideas.  Unlike a horse, we do have choice.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 1, 2000

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Tonight I am watching my woods fill up with snow.  My dog does not think it strange for me to stand here.  And I have no promises to keep before I sleep.  Sorry Robert Frost.  I could not resist.  But like Frost I am filled with awe at the rugged beauty of tree arms holding snow instead of leaves.  Under the white blanket myriads of furred creatures sleep with their noses tucked in for a long winter’s nap.  Chickadees, tufted titmice, juncos, gold finches, cardinals, blue jays and woodpeckers filled up in anticipation of a muffled night of softness.  It’s a sweet thing to be tucked in on a New England night with the crackling of the fire and the shimmering shadows on wooden walls.

These are times when all I wish to do is thank all my friends for their care.  My family for their love and my Jesus for His promises that not only will this never end but it will grow better as millennia pass.  How can it be that it is so difficult to spread the Gospel?  I am not only thinking about people whose lives are so busy they can’t pause to ponder the joys.   But I am thinking of those who have grown up thinking they are Christians and yet still harbor doubts of their salvation.

The only conclusion I can come to is it is just too good to be true and we are told when something is too good to be true it isn’t true.  But in this case it is all true.  The Gift of God is eternal life.  According to the dictionary a gift is “something given to somebody, usually in order to provide pleasure or to show gratitude.”   Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”   Luke 12:32

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 30, 2016

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