Author: Ian Bothwell

There was a very popular story in the Middle Ages about a dog named Gelert.  One night his master returned home to find his child’s cradle overturned and Gelert was covered with blood. Immediately his master killed him only to turn around and see the body of a dead wolf that had attacked his child and had thusly been killed by Gelert.  It was then that he found the baby still alive under the cradle. There are several variations to the story but the message in all of them is the same. Wise people do not act without gathering as much information as possible. How fortunate we are that our heavenly Father knows everything about us.

In a time of edited media clips and sound bites it is relatively easy to make one’s opponent say anything we want them to say and then watch the masses rise up with so little real information. We do it in the arena of politics, in the world of religion with one group pitting itself against another, and we do it in our personal relationships at work and at home.   Have we ever been riled because someone told us a certain someone said something we didn’t like to hear?   We were not there.  We did not know the context.  And we did not hear the tone of the voice which can actually reverse the meaning of a sentence.

Revelation 12:7 speaks of war in heaven; an almost impossible thing to imagine.  Lucifer, the master of sound bites, the subtle raising of an eyebrow, tonal inflection, and outright lies had attacked the throne.

The Gelert legend continued that the master buried Gelert with great fanfare and honor.  But he never smiled again.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 27, 2012

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Six weeks ago one of my very best friends gently went to sleep in my arms.

Mandy, our black lab, had been with us for over thirteen years.  Needless to say, it was a very emotional moment, so much so that I have not been able to write about it til now.  I still am not able to say much because she was to me the perfect dog. Her devotion and love were beyond description.  We spent so much time together roaming the mountains of Massachusetts.  But the years took their toll and finally she just ran out of gas.  The last few days she needed assistance just to stand up.  The vet came to our house and Mandy closed her eyes in the comfort of home.

The reason I can now speak of it is that this afternoon Annie has come to live with us.  She too is a black lab.  So here we go again.  The next few weeks we will be soaking up puddles and trying to keep the house from being chewed to pieces.  For the past few hours she has bounded about the house sniffing everything.  She climbed the stairs to the second floor but getting back down was very scary.  It’s much easier going up.  We are wondering if we will get much sleep tonight.

While I do not believe Jesus died to save dogs I do believe Jesus will do everything possible to make heaven great for us.  Therefore, I anticipate opening the door of my heavenly home to see Mandy waiting for me.  Some of my friends tell me I should anticipate about a dozen other dogs I have loved through the years.   If I add thirteen or fourteen years to my present age this will be my last dog.  Surely God smiled the day He made dogs and even though Genesis doesn’t mention it, I am sure He said, “That is very, very good.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 9, 2010

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It was a dark moonless night on our street that has no street lights.  (I’m glad.  We can see stars.)  Our black lab was outside making her final night rounds.  Often she sits in the darkness staring off into the forest.   I’m sure she hears night sounds that beckon her.  Often I just allow her to stare as long as she wants.  But this particular evening I went out to call her in.  Since it was totally dark I turned on the flash light app on my phone and scanned the yard.  She was nowhere to be seen.  Was this the night she couldn’t resist the call of the wild?  Walking about the yard calling and peering under the rhododendrons I began to be concerned.  Where could she be?  Turning this way and that I looked and called.  Suddenly I felt a nudge on the back of my leg.  She had been with me all the time following me from bush to tree.  I’m sure she wondered what was wrong with me.  When I turned, she turned.  She’s a good dog.  She is so totally black on a moonless night she is invisible.

There are times when our life seems so dark.  Things do not go well.  Dreams are dashed.  We lose someone we love.  Our finances aren’t thrilling.  We pray and only hear silence.  Where is God?  Where are His promises?  Finally after much searching we feel a nudge.  He was there all the time.  We just couldn’t see Him.  His promise is true.  “Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world.”  He’s a good God.   After all He told us to call Him Father.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 12, 2016

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Elementary school teachers tell me they know when the weather is about to change.  They don’t need a barometer because the children get fidgety.   I wonder if that is also true with dogs.  Our weatherman is telling us a large storm is heading our way and today our dog has been fidgety.  Every little sound created an explosion of raised hair and ear piercing barking.   If the volume of ruckus roused had anything to do with it when the mailman came, one would have thought he was a terrorist.  While channel surfing I paused for a few moments on the end of Family Feud.  When the correct answer came up on the board there was a ding.  I do admit that it sounded like our doorbell and you can guess what happened.

Through the years I have known people who must have been aware that the weather was changing.  Every war, every earthquake, every natural disaster made them start barking that the end is near.  Our fervent desire for the second coming of Jesus sometimes clouds our better judgment.  The continual “wolf wolf at the door” has a dulling effect on our young people.   Soon they turn us off and discount everything we have to say regarding faith.   Our so very relevant message for vibrant living isn’t heard because of our not paying attention to Jesus Himself.  He said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

It’s popular for preachers to focus on end time events because they get lots of rave comments at the door after church.  It’s an easy sermon prep.  All they need do is recap the week’s news.  But let’s beware we don’t become fidgety barking dogs.  Be pastors and care for the flock which so often need to be reminded that Jesus loves them.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 6, 2013

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While sitting at my desk I can hear winter retreating before the advancement of spring.  There are drips of water falling from the foot of snow from our roof unto the copper covering of the window behind me.   The dripping sound reinforces the clichéd name Old Man Winter.   Little by little winter is losing its grip.  While it is true we could possibly get yet another snow storm it would be like a delusional old man pretending he is still attractive to young ladies.  Winter is doomed to become history.

I just paid an excise tax on my car.  It is true.  Taxes and death are a surety.  Just as the taxman cometh so does our local mortician.  Old Man Winter and I have much in common.  His strength is ebbing and so is mine.  Lest I sound overly morbid I need to say I have an advantage over Old Man Winter 2014.  He is doomed.  Quite to the contrary I am not for I know something he does not know.  I know about Jesus.  Oh to joy.

This ebbing of strength, this graying of hair (what is left), is only a temporary condition.  Soon my man-made knees will be replaced and I will leap and fly like an eagle. “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  Isaiah 40:31.   The really good part is that will be an eternal condition.  Last week I sat behind a man my age and looked at his full head of hair and I thought, “You just wait.  I too will be like that again.”   Following Jesus is loaded with benefits.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 11, 2015

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We are having a wonderful winter storm.  The wind is blowing the snow against the windows and making groaning sounds in the trees.   We knew it was coming.  For days the weather people were telling us almost to the minute when it would arrive.  So yesterday afternoon the supermarkets were packed with people stocking up on milk and bread.  One interviewed lady said she stood in the checkout lane for over 40 minutes.  I don’t understand.  First of all, the storm will be gone tomorrow and the roads will be plowed.  Are cupboards so bare people can’t live until tomorrow morning?  When they shop do they only get enough for one day?  Secondly, they have known about this for five days.

I’m reminded of Noah’s ark.  No one but Noah and his immediate family were saved.  But people had 120 years to show up.  Instead they pounded on the door when it started to rain.   In Matthew 24 Jesus speaks of a time of trouble climaxing in His second coming.  If the human pattern continues that means millions of people will try at the last moment to get ready.  When we consider how important this is, why do we wait?  Maybe we want to see more of the signs spoken of by Jesus.  But considering our hearts can stop at any second we might not be around to see the signs of the end.  We might not make it to the end of today.

This is a bit frightening and the last thing I want to do is to scare someone into accepting Jesus.   It is so much better to come to Him by responding to His wooing call of love.  But the truth is He loves us so much He will take us for any reason.  Scary or not He wants us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 15, 2017

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It’s a shabby old building sitting amidst some fairly nice looking business establishments.  Its white paint hasn’t looked fresh for decades.  It is so rundown-looking it has a certain charm, but what really catches one’s attention is the large sign above the porch.  It reads, “Greendale Improvement Society.”  The paint on the sign is so faded you have to look carefully to read its ironic message.

 

Like that old building many of us make resolutions to improve ourselves and soon discover our best intentions have become historic relics.  New Years Day comes and we decide to lose weight, read that pile of books we bought last year, memorize 1 Corinthians 13, return a faithful tithe, exercise everyday and not yell at the kids.  Nevertheless, just like the Greendale Improvement Society’s chipped paint and faded sign, our dreams of improvement become charming artifacts.  At least we hope they are charming.

 

Self-discipline is an admirable trait that deserves an Academy Award.  While it will never receive one, self-discipline does come with built-in rewards.

 

Nine times in the Psalms the Psalmist cries out to the Lord, “Help me.”  If we have some good intentions about self-improvement, it is time to ask for help lest we become like the Greendale Improvement Society’s old building.f

 

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 28, 2005

 

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I bought my dog a bag of beef sticks for snacks.  I had planned to keep them in a drawer in my desk but when I opened the bag a cloud of garlic aroma wafted from that bag with such intensity my eyes rolled back into my head.  I gave her a couple and later decided to play Dagwood Bumstead by taking a nap on our couch.  I wasn’t too long zoned out to the world when I was startled to consciousness by an overwhelming foul cloud.  Opening my eyes I found myself staring into two dark eyes a few inches from my nose.  She wanted more as she gave me that “cocked head, pathetic, adorable, poor me” look.  When you love someone or something, people and pets take on a completely different perspective.  I got her another one.

You know the old saying one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.  Well there is a corollary saying, “One man’s stench is another man’s perfume.”  Just stop at a perfume sample counter at the mall.  Some are great and some are, well, not so great.  We are not very consistent about smells.  If we are hungry almost anything food smells great.  If we are nauseous the best smells in the world make us even sicker.

I am sure sometimes our behaviors and attitudes reek in the courts of heaven.  Yet, His love for us enables Him to continually reach out to us.  He does not offer perfume to mask our odor.  Instead He offers a transformation of being.  By His grace and with His power we are enabled to do sweet smelling acts of love as we become more and more like Him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 31, 2012

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We went through a bag of dog treats this afternoon watching the Patriots lose their playoff game.  My wife has trained our dog to instantly come when she blows a whistle.  It was a fairly easy process.  Each time she blows the whistle the dog gets a treat.  It seemed wonderful and foolproof until this afternoon.  Every time an official at the football game blew his whistle the dog came running for a treat.  I couldn’t not give her something lest her training go to waste.  I just love double negatives.

She couldn’t tell the difference from our whistle and the whistle on television.  She has limited intelligence.  She reminded me of a church member I once had who told me God told him to divorce his wife and marry another.  Of course “the other” was fifteen years younger and also prettier than the original.  When I asked him how he knew that’s what God wanted him to do he answered, “When I pray with ‘the other’ I feel so close to God.”  Talk about limited intelligence.  I’m wondering if my dog would outscore him on a Stanford-Binet.

I sometimes think it wouldn’t matter if there was no Satan to tempt us.  I think we do a pretty good job on ourselves.  It is so obvious that we hear and see what we want to hear and see.  We rationalize to get what we want.  It is so difficult to be honest with ourselves.  If we could only steel ourselves to do what God directs us to do in Scripture, we would not go wrong.  We would hear the right whistle and ultimately get the right reward – eternal life.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 17, 2011

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My beautiful black lab stood in the snow staring off into the forest.  The moon was casting magnificent gray shadows across the reflective white floor.  She was trembling.  It was not fear.  Her hackles were not raised.  This was different.  The coyotes were calling from the treed mountain.  She looked at me and then looking into the night she moved a step forward.  Again she looked at me with a longing.  She wanted to go to them.  There was something primal moving her memory of being free to run and explore with her far removed cousins.  Taking yet another step forward she paused and when I said her name she turned back to me.  As we reentered the house she looked back to the trees.  She wanted to go.  It was only her love for me that restrained her.

She is not unlike us, who have primal memories of Eden.  We visit beautiful gardens laden with flowers and all manner of flora and there is an inner pull, an unsettled urge to want to live forever in such beauty.   Was it really so long ago that Eve and Adam tended God’s artistry? There are many layers of consciousness in our magnificent minds and deep inside there is a draw to go home.  How often must Adam have taken Abel, Seth and Cain to the gate of Eden and spoke to them of the beauty inside.

How grand that we have a way to satisfy this longing for eternal life in a paradise of God’s making.  Unlike my lab that resisted the call for her love for me we can respond with a yes to our call.  Our love for the One who formed us has made our entrance available. All we need is to say yes.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 20, 2015

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