Author: Ian Bothwell

About twenty-five years ago we swore off frozen pizza.  This afternoon while at the grocery store I said, “Surely they have gotten better after all these years.”  So we selected one with a famous name thinking that was a good choice.  If anything it was worse than I remembered.  Maybe this one was left over from the batch I ate from twenty-five years ago.   We should have paid attention to our old rule.

Sometimes my students try to tell me that certain standards are old and don’t apply in the 21st century.  Why is it that I have this feeling that if there were a good moral reason for something fifty years ago there is still a good moral reason today?  Because we change does that mean everything changes?

Maybe we didn’t have a good reason years ago.  I have this idea that something is only wrong if it is harmful.  If it isn’t harmful, it isn’t wrong.  Does the passage of time erase the harmful effects of certain behavior thus making it okay?  Perhaps the issue is we did not think it through fifty years ago or maybe we did and we forgot our reasons thus making it necessary for us to think it through once again.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 30 2008

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Ever so slowly I am aware the muscles around my new knee are strengthening. Little by little I continue to use less pain medication.  I actually can now sleep clear through the night without being awakened by a sharp stab in a bone violated by metal fasteners.  I hold a small plastic container in my hand filled with oblong white pills, each with the ability to numb the reality that my leg was violated by sharp instruments and now is home to a strangely shaped contraption.

Should I or should I not take this pain pill?  If I take it I will cease to ponder my leg.  If don’t I will not move as I should thus slowing down the healing.  Is the pain a curse or a blessing?   Does the pain tell me to take care or does the pain merely make my day miserable?   Pain warns us that something is wrong and needs attention.  Pain also destroys the quality of life.

Then there is psychological pain that can be so excruciating that we become unaware of physical discomfort.   It too warns us that something is wrong and needs attention.  Guilt is a form of psychological pain warning us of our need for help.  Guilt can be one of life’s worse pains. Self-incrimination and the recognition that we are the cause make it all the worse.

Jesus is the balm.  We have not the competency to remove the stains from our soul.  Only one who bore our guilt and transgressions can do that for us.   “If we confess our sins He is able and willing to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 27, 2008                            rogerbothwell.org

It was one of those miracle days.  Every traffic signal I approached was green.  I just soared through town as if I had a police escort.  You most likely have also had such a trip but you know it is rare.  Of course there are those days that compensate for it.  All the lights are red and ten minutes is added to our journeys.  Sometimes we complain about life’s obstacles.  We have goals and dreams and things get in the way and slow us down.  We wanted to be on the fast track and were not.  However, the obstacles could be unrecognized assets.  They force us to slow down and look around and re-evaluate where we should be heading.

I got my BA and MA in four years.  Why?  It was stupid.  But I was in a hurry.  I wanted to get out of the seminary and quickly save the world.  The result was many of my courses where done as quickly and with as little effort as possible.  The result being that I paid for an education I didn’t get.  I needed someone or something to slow me down.  There were no red lights.  It was all green. The red lights came later in life.  It was then that I got a real education.

We have all heard the expression “slow down and smell the roses.”  It sounds so trite we fail to see the inherent wisdom.  Jesus waited in the carpentry shop for thirty years.  He watched his neighbors and relatives and learned about people.  He was not a man in a rush.  Two years into His ministry He did not go to Passover because they were waiting to kill Him.  He took another year.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 11, 2013

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When I say there are over 1000 acorns buried in my front yard I seriously am not exaggerating.  In the 15 years we have lived here I have never seen such furious squirrel activity.  They are so busy you can almost walk up to them without them ceasing their labor.

If Solomon had seen my yard, instead of talking about ants he would have talked about the labor of squirrels.  They have reminded me that I do not yet have all my firewood cut, split and stowed for the winter so I better get busy.

Preparing for the future is one of Jesus’ messages to us.  The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 is a prime example of our need to think ahead. Five of the young ladies missed the feast because they failed to prepare.

It is true Jesus told us not to fret about the future.  He assures us that God will care for us with more care than He does for the birds and flowers, but by the same token God has also given us better brains than birds and flowers.  He does expect us to use them.

Preparing for the future is using our energies to strengthen our characters, minds and souls.  Just as exercise strengthens the body so does time spent in the Word strengthen us for spiritual combat.   Being ready means being prepared to face down any temptation that comes our way.

Written by Roger Bothwell on  Oct. 7, 2008

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Ever since she was a puppy she has loved to swim.  Of course, she’s a lab.  For thirteen summers we have gone to a gorgeously beautiful New England lake where she tirelessly retrieves sticks.  Just mentioning the lake launches her into a dancing barking frenzy of delight.  That has not changed.  But something has changed.  That old gray muzzle holding a stick has a hard time getting out of the water and up onto the bank.  I used to throw the stick out as far as I could but now just enough distance to get her back wet is far enough.  The strength in her back legs is going and they tremble now as she waits for the next toss.  She won’t give up.  She begs for one more time over my protests that enough is enough.  As I look into her not so clear eyes I see her say, “Please, please, just one more time.  This might be my last time to come here.”  And so I toss it in the water close enough for me to jump in if I have to.  When we got home she got an aspirin wrapped in a slice of American cheese.

Getting up in the morning will be difficult.  She is beautiful in her old age. It is difficult to see old friends age. When I see them I remember what they were.  But we must never fail to see beauty in every age.  Young is usually just pretty.  Old can be beautiful.

I said “can be” because beauty is the fruit of what’s inside.  Old is not necessarily wise or lovely, it all depends on what has been growing through the years.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 30, 2008

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The crowd watched in awe as the stunt plane streaming white smoke climbed vertically into the sky spiraling upward with the mighty engine straining against the relentless pull of gravity.  Slower and slower it climbed until gravity won.  The plane sat on its tail shuddering and then it fell over tumbling end over end toward the mesmerized crowd below.  As it fell back to earth everyone noticed a man standing on the top wing.  Cabled in place he waved to the throng below.  Surely this man must have a death wish.  But probably not.  His was a case of absolute faith.  Obviously he trusted the person at the controls.  His faith was rewarded.  As the plane tumbled to earth it regained sufficient speed to fly again and the pilot rolled it out into a perfect arch above the crowd.

In John 14 Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Life can tumble us about but if we will trust Jesus we will be rewarded with an eternity of endless growth.  He wants us to be with Him.  Just imagine.  He—wants us—to be with him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 26, 2003

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He could not find them.  Somewhere in his house his glasses were hiding from him.  Were the glasses laughing at him as he walked past them searching first in the obvious places and then in the obscure?  They had to be in the house.  He had driven home with them and had not left the house without them.  Fiendishly they mocked him as they watched him crawl about on hands and knees peering under a couch, pulling the cushions off his favorite chair.  This was great sport for them.  He threatened punishment—a good bath—should he apprehend them.  In the meantime, he was grateful for an old pair that worked fairly well even if the prescription was different.  However, his eyes struggled to adjust to the different lenses.

It is a challenge to see things differently.  We like our usual ways of looking at people and ideas.  It is far easier to change our socks than it is to change our minds.  Two people see and hear the same thing and yet each sees and hears something different.  What we see or hear is the product of the event liberally sprinkled with pinches of prejudices, predispositions, religious beliefs, family loyalties and what we want to see and hear.

“Who can discern his errors?”  Psalms 19:12

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 28, 2002

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When making a purchase we contemplate many things.  We wonder if the item will really work.  We wonder how long it might be before it breaks.  The sales person always tells us how wonderful the company is in honoring their products.  Yet we have learned not to believe everything we are told.

Once the purchase is made we take it home, take out the papers and we read, “Limited Warranty”.  We read the fine print hoping to find that it really will be fixed if it breaks.  Have you every wondered about the thirty-year warranty you get from the guys who roof houses?  The truth is there are few things one can really count on.  Even the U.S. Government’s safety net for savings accounts in insured banks is limited and not absolutely sure.  Remember the great Roman Empire?

 But there is one thing you can count on.  You can always count on God to keep His promises.  Jesus once said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”  John 10:28.  He also said, “…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:20.  These promises are guaranteed.  The guarantee was purchased at Calvary.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 18, 2001

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Looking through the want ads can be kind of fun especially if you don’t particularly want anything.  Looking for something specific like a job can be very frustrating.  Actually when you think about it, the Bible is really one big want ad.  God is advertising a great product and hoping, as do all who run ads, that lots of people will respond.

God’s ad could come under several different categories.  It could be a personal ad.  “Friendly, loving, caring, sacrificing person of means looking for someone to share long-term relationship.”  Not bad.

It could also come under real estate.  “Mansion.  Nice neighborhood.  Good neighbors. Glorious views.  Offered at sacrificial prices. Owner motivated.”

How about a help wanted ad?  “Father-son business needs committed employee willing to travel.  Great retirement, good medical, compensation out of this world.”

God could run an ad in almost every section of the want ads.  How about this?  “Cleaning service.  Restore to new condition.  Stain removal 100% guaranteed.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2000

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Having been raised with the story of the tortoise and the hare, most of us think of the tortoise as that wonderful fellow who could do no wrong.  Persistence wins was the impressionable theme.   On seeing a tortoise crossing the road the story came to mind once again.  Cars were taking care to straddle him as they passed.  That is all except one.  In an instant Mr. Turtle became food for the crows.

Persistence is good, but speed would have been better.  Sometimes we are so laid back; knowing tomorrow is another day, we do not accomplish the things we need to do.  Teachers see this behavior pattern daily.  Students have a zillion reasons why their work is late.  Computers are a blessing to those procrastinators.  They can now blame malfunctioning technology for their tardiness.

Have you ever noticed what Jesus said to Zacchaeus when He found him in a tree?  “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.’  And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”  Luke 19:5-6

Haste does not always make waste.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2000

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