Month: April 2025

One of my favorite books when I was a boy was Secret of the Cave by Uncle Arthur Maxwell.  It was about some boys who used a cave as a base from which they secretly did good deeds for their community.  I used to fantasize how very neat that would be.  Now the story has been reversed on me.  My electric lawn mower ceased to do its job.  The electric motor would whir but the blade did not go around.

Unbeknownst to me my very observant engineer neighbor absconded with, repaired, cleaned, sharpened the blade and then returned my mower.  It appears to be brand new.  Now how’s that for living in a great neighborhood?

While I would like very much to do something for him as repayment, I have come to realize that would devalue his gift.  Sometimes the finest thing we can do is to allow another to help us. We do not have to respond in kind when a “Thank You” will be just fine.

And then there is the following problem.   There is a memorable line from the musical “Annie, Get Your Gun.”  It says, “Anything you can do I can do better; I can do anything better than you.”   In my situation the words would be “Anything I can do; he can do better.  He can do anything better than I.”   I’m not trying to be modest. He really can.  He is a gifted engineer.

Sometimes it is difficult for us to sit back and allow another to give.  But that is an important part of life.  If we were not gracious receivers when would the gracious givers have an opportunity to shine?   See Luke 10.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 23, 2010

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We have some dear friends we like to diner with each Sunday morning.  This morning while sipping on a hot drink I watched our waitress top off one of my friend’s hot drink.  Immediately she had to try to conjure up the right balance of drink, cream and sugar.  The added top off upset her prior perfect mix.  As I watched I realized how much this was like our lives.  We can have the perfect balance.  We enjoy our jobs, our health is good, our children and grandchildren are doing well, the weather is great and the bills paid.   Then something happens.  The mix is changed and the balance is gone.  Life’s challenge then is to seek to regain the prior perfect mix. It’s not easy.  Often there are just too many variables and one of them might be gigantic.

It’s on these occasions we would be wise to seek divine help.  God is only a prayer away and though it might not often seem so He is eager to help.  When Jesus told us to pray “Our Father” Jesus was not using a metaphor.  God is most anxious to have us consider Him to be the best Father we could desire.  He has unlimited resources but wisely doesn’t just dump upon us our requests.   He’s much smarter than we are and knows exactly what we need to restore the balance.

Balance is not easy.  I am always impressed to see a trapeze artist walk a wire without a balance pole.  That’s a tough act.  The bigger the pole the easier the walk.  So it is with us.  God provides a pole that is just the right length.  Too long would make it too easy and we wouldn’t grow.   Too short and we would fall.   He knows exactly what we need.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 1, 2010

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