Month: December 2024

Thursday morning was recycling morning.  Stacked in front of one house was evidence that a heavy drinker lived there.  Maybe.  There is a trailhead close to these homes and occasionally a lone man with his dog can be seen cleaning up the trash left there by partiers.  It is amazing how people can come to a nice clean place in the forest and leave it looking like a pigpen.  So it is not unusual to see this man leaving the forest with a garbage sack full of trash and beer cans.

It is so easy to judge people.  Feeling somewhat like Sherlock Holmes we observe and then form clever deductions.  The people walking by the pile of beer cans waiting to be picked up by the recycling man might draw a conclusion about the residents of that house.

Most of us are guilty when it comes to playing the Sherlock Holmes game.  Often the things we think we know about people are just not true.  Much of what we think we know is conjecture and supposition.  And even when we do actually see someone doing something we cannot know his or her motivation.  Jesus is so right when He tells us not to judge others.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2000

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Thursday morning was recycling morning.  Stacked in front of one house was evidence that a heavy drinker lived there.  Maybe.  There is a trailhead close to these homes and occasionally a lone man with his dog can be seen cleaning up the trash left there by partiers.  It is amazing how people can come to a nice clean place in the forest and leave it looking like a pigpen.  So it is not unusual to see this man leaving the forest with a garbage sack full of trash and beer cans.

It is so easy to judge people.  Feeling somewhat like Sherlock Holmes we observe and then form clever deductions.  The people walking by the pile of beer cans waiting to be picked up by the recycling man might draw a conclusion about the residents of that house.

Most of us are guilty when it comes to playing the Sherlock Holmes game.  Often the things we think we know about people are just not true.  Much of what we think we know is conjecture and supposition.  And even when we do actually see someone doing something we cannot know his or her motivation.  Jesus is so right when He tells us not to judge others.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2000

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Masses of people are scurrying about trying to finish their list before Christmas Eve.  Fortunately for those of us in New England this year we don’t have any snow to hamper our doings.  While doing my doings today I heard people greet each other with “Are you ready for Christmas?”  Some people had reduced it to “Are you ready?”  I thought it might be a great greeting all the time – referring to the second coming of Jesus.  Are you ready?

I grew up in an environment where it wasn’t PC to say “Yes.”   We were trained to say, “I hope so.”  After all we might have sinned in the past hour and hadn’t had a chance to ask for forgiveness.  As a child of God who has read the Gospels and the letters of Paul I now understand how insulting that is to God.  It takes love out of the equation and replaces it with a computer-like program of ons and offs.  Sin and it’s off.  Ask for forgiveness and it’s on.  That is really pathetic.  If we as parents loved our children that way the state social service should remove them from us.

Salvation isn’t about ons and offs.  It is about family.  Being in God’s family with Him being the best ever Father is what Jesus talked about.    Just as a good human parent would not cast his child out of the house for an infraction of some sort neither will God reject us; especially for an unknown sin of some kind.  Salvation is about belonging to the family.  We enter the family by accepting the invitation.  So do it.  Once done we can always answer with a big “Yes” to the question “Are you ready?”

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 24, 2015

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It’s been a busy day doing the Lord’s work.  It started snowing last evening and we are at about the two foot level now.  That makes it very difficult for the chickadees, cardinals, blue jays and others birds to stay fed.  We have had to refill the seed feeder and the suet feeders because of the constant stream of about eighteen different kinds of birds staying nourished.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

God’s work manifests itself in a huge variety of ways.  Who’s to say which is more important than another?  The farmer plowing his field, the auto worker going to his assembly plant, the teacher going to her classroom, the grocery store shelf stocker stocking, the cook cooking at Denny’s, the highway patrolman patrolling, the nurse nursing in the emergency room are all doing God’s work.

Occasionally I talk with someone ruing the fact they never got a job working for the church.  They made the mistake of thinking that working for the church is the only way to do God’s work.  God’s work is caring for others’ needs.  If I had to rank jobs as to what is the number one task that is God’s work I would most likely list Hospice workers.  The fact is God needs all of us to make life work.   Our part can change from day to day.  Today our job was to feed His birds.  Tomorrow when the snow melts it will be something else.  Whatever it be let’s do it well.  Luke 9:62.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 28, 2015

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On our walk today we came upon Santa.  He had painted the big letters UPS on the side of his brown sleigh.  I think that stands for Ubernorth Pole Service.   I’m glad he got an early start this year because if what I saw is any indication of how busy he is, he is slammed.  I kid you not.  He stopped at more than half the houses.  My dog and I eventually passed him and turned the corner before he did.  He even had an elf with him and we were taking time to sniff along the way.  Well, at least one of us was sniffing.  Often after a good inhale she looks up at me trying to understand why I am not down there enjoying the pure essence of it all.

As we rounded the corner I pondered about how wonderful it is that our heavenly Father is omnipresent; talk about orders needing to be filled and delivered.  Our prayers and those of billion of beings on each of billions of planets are continually reaching His ears.  The sheer cacophony of languages asking for something all at the same time would totally overwhelm a lesser being.  But have no fear.  He is more than up to the task.  He is even anxious for increased attention from us.  He loves it when we trust Him to care for us.

When speaking about Jesus, Paul wrote in Colossians 1, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”  How marvelous to think that He and the Father are tuned into us all the time.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 15, 2015

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Snow had been falling steadily for seven hours and a foot of snow covered the ground.  The wind was pushing tiny crystals of ice into the tiniest of cracks.  Just before sundown a towhee along with a pair of cardinals and lots of juncos were stuffing themselves at a sheltered bird feeder.  They seemed to know it was going to be a long difficult night.

Towhees are not supposed to find themselves in this situation.  Had he stayed behind in the fall because of the birdfeeder?  Had he figured, “Why make the long journey?  There is plenty of food here.”  Where did the towhee spend the night?  Was he cold?  Was he sheltered?  In the morning after the storm had passed did he have access to food?   Had the owners of the birdfeeder remembered to clear the snow and refill the feeder.  In Luke 12 Jesus spoke of His father’s care for the birds.  In the same way our heavenly father makes sure we have access to our needs.  Storms come in life and when they pass God is still there.  He always was there.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 9, 2001

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So I figured I would get a Christmas haircut just in case people wanted to take pictures around the tree.  I went early to the barbershop – 8:15.   But there were already four really old guys there, one in the chair and three waiting.  While I was waiting two more old guys came in.  The gray hair on the floor around the barber chair was piling up – not a dark hair to be seen.

Old guys get a senior discount – only 12 dollars.  But the first guy gives her a twenty and says, “Keep the change. Merry Christmas.”  So the second guy gets out of the chair, gives her a twenty and says, “Keep the change. Merry Christmas.”  The third guy does the same.  So it was my turn.  By now there are three old guys watching.  What could I do?  Did I want these crotchety old guys to think that I was either a jerk or unsuccessful in life?  So much for the senior discount!  I learned a life lesson.  Never get a haircut a few days before Christmas.

Life is full of learning experiences.  A lady was in line ahead of me at a Kmart checkout.  She was coughing over and over into her hand.  Then she picked up that pen-like thing to sign for her credit purchase.  Well, I quickly put my credit card back in my wallet and paid in cash.  See, I do learn.  Another thing I learned along the way there is no better life than a life in Jesus.  He provides peace, resolution and a fantastic out of this world future.  So come with me.  Learn the same lesson from an old guy whose gray hair is on the floor mixed in with lots of other old guy’s hair.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 23, 2015

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Tis the season for Christmas programs.  Our schedules are filled with The Messiah, Readings of the Night Before Christmas and many children’s choirs.  We passed a church this morning that had so many cars in the parking lot they were parked four deep.  It would be a while before some people got out.

Some time ago I saw a choir where the children knew all the words and were spot on coming in and out when they were up.  But there was something wrong.  Something was missing.  And then it hit me.  The children were not smiling and there was little joy being expressed.  They might as well have been singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm.   The joy of Christmas isn’t so much the technical prowess of the choir but the emotion expressed.  The children were prepared in their heads but not their hearts.

Oh Holy Night is only moving when the singers are moved.  The Hallelujah Chorus is only wonderful when you cannot keep yourself in your seat but have to stand, not because it is convention, but because God is so great and so mighty.  I have to say that this weekend I did hear and watch a mother and daughter sing a duet about Jesus Our King that caused me to well up; it was so full of love.

Jesus really is Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, The Prince of Peace.  I heard someone sing wonderful counselor.   He is a wonderful counselor but that is not what Isaiah was saying.  Jesus is Wonderful period.  Wonderful is not an adjective modifying counselor.  Wonderful is His name.  He fills our hearts with His splendor and love and majesty and it is beyond comprehension.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 14, 2015

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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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We took our walk this evening after sundown and darkness had settled in for the night. This is a great time of the year.  Many of our neighbors have already decorated their homes for the holidays with a vast array of lights.  We do not have street lights so the homes are extra beautiful with no competing light.  One house has brightly lit angels in the yard.

As we walked along I thought of a passage in II Chronicles 3 talking about Solomon decorating the home He built for the Lord.  “He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.”

The luminosity in our neighborhood is beautiful.  I also thought of somethingPaul wrote to Timothy about decorating our lives.  Instead of lots of external gold he counseled us to decorate our lives with good works and modesty.  Just think about how beautiful people are that are kind and unselfish.  In college one of the guys had a large purple birthmark on his face.  One year at Thanksgiving he announced that he was having it removed.  We were dumbfounded.  He was so kind and so Christ-like we saw no need for him to do that.  We thought he was handsome because of the kind of person he was.  We ceased to see the birthmark because he was so decorated with good works.  He was a quality person.

This is the season for decorating.  This is the season to be thankful, generous, forgiving and kind.  This is the season to be beautiful.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 1, 2015

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