Author: rogerbothwell_kiywit

A watch battery is such a tiny little thing. Yet it will power a timepiece with precision for two or three years. In a two-year period it will push the second hand around and around 1,051,200 times. If it lasts three years it will push it around 1,576,800 times. How does that tiny battery contain all that power?

When we hold our Bibles what enormous power is in our hands! Real power! We hold the power to change human lives. Our Bibles contain the ideas of God. Nothing is more powerful than an idea. Nothing is more powerful than idea from God. Ideas change the world. God’s ideas change the universe. And when we hold our Bibles, we hold those ideas in our hands.

The ideas of God render the ideas of man to kindergarten. The ideas of God are the wisdom of the ages. The ideas of God answer the great philosophical questions of mankind. The ideas of God—not Plato or Nietzche–tell us who we are, why we are here and where we are going.

God’s ideas are the power unto salvation.

First posted August 4, 2000

In the fall as the days grow shorter and the midnight frost starts to nip the flowers, squirrels become most industrious. They scurry around burying acorns everywhere carefully patting the dirt down on top of each acorn making it secure for future nourishment.

We are somewhat like those squirrels when reading our Bibles. Not always is a passage exactly relevant to what is happening in our current lives. But when reading we are burying seeds of truth and comfort for later times when we might need them. Just as those squirrels do not need the acorns in the fall, later during a very cold winter the acorns will be there waiting for them. If we hide God’s Word deeply in our minds, it will be there for us to use when difficult times come.

The Psalmist wrote in Ps. 119:19, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” If we store up God’s wisdom, the Holy Spirit can make good use of it when the need arises.

October 3,2000

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.

The temperature was perfect; the late afternoon sun was drawing long shadows across God’s artistic reflections of red maple leaves, yellow beech and birch leaves against a deep blue sky punctuated with white, billowy cumulus clouds. A kingfisher chattered his way across the river; this was one of life’s perfect moments.

There are those fleeting seconds worth all the years of life. No amount of wealth or fame could ever be worth just one of those gems of time. Perfection is rare in this world. To score a “perfect ten” is a moment that needs to be captured by the camera of one’s mind and printed indelibly for those coming years when other memories fade.

Have you ever wondered how heaven will work? If every moment is perfect, then will there be no special times? In the midst of an endless array of perfection, how can anything stand out as perfect? The truth is we do not know how heaven will work. But whatever it is, it will be grand.

“But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9

The little girl gazed with expectant eyes as her daddy put his coins in the machine. Ever so carefully he maneuvered the stainless steel claw toward the coveted teddy bear in the big glass case. There would be no second chance if he missed snatching it from the pile of goodies. The teddy would wait for another day or worse yet for another little girl’s daddy to snatch it.

Her face lit up when the claw picked up the teddy. But it dangled like it would fall.

“Oh, daddie-e-e-e-e,” she cried.

Ever so carefully he moved it towards the opening through which it would fall into her eager hands. Suddenly it looked ready to slip from the grasp of the claw. And then it happened. It fell off the claw onto the side of the opening. Where was the center of gravity? Would a tiny teddy arm catch and hold the treasure inside the machine? It held for just a moment and then fell through the opening into her hands.

What squeals of delight! Her curls bounced as she danced with joy. But there was even a better sight to behold. It was the look of triumph on her daddy’s face.

What do you suppose God looks like when we are saved?

Have you ever walked around for several hours with a stone in your shoe? Sometimes the stone would be under your heel; then it would move under your arch. It was annoying, but not annoying enough to stop what you were doing, take off your shoe, dump out the stone and put your shoe back on. It would have taken you less that a minute, yet you persisted in enduring the annoyance. And when you finally did take it out you found it was not much larger than a grain of sand.

How much like flaws in our characters. We have little things that annoy others and ourselves, but we do not take the time and discipline to “clean house.” Little quirks of personality and unhealthy habits that could be remedied we ignore because it would be inconvenient to make the mental effort.

Improvement in self is possible if we will just make a bit of an effort. We can stop annoying others and ourselves if we will only purpose to do so. Best of all we can have help. God does say in Psalm 91:15, “…call upon me, and I will answer….”

Last week my best friend died. I have known Roger for over 50 years. Starting in college, later in various states and positions we reconnected. For several years we worked together in Iowa and in California at the same university. Our children were of the same ages, so Sabbath afternoons we were often together at either of our homes. About 20 years ago, turmoil affected both our families and we did not see each other like in the past. Five years later I received a call after Roger found my name on the Internet. After that we reestablished our contact and over the last 25 years we cemented our friendship. Our wives also became friends. Several times a year, we visited each other’s homes. Frequent phone calls filled the spaces in between.

When we were together, we would share stories from our past. As years went by, these stories were repeated and enjoyed as much as the first time. Visits at my house showed two old men sitting in recliners overlooking the valley, talking, reading and napping. The wives would watch us and laugh.

So well we did get along and so similar were our ways, we told people we were identical twins separated at birth. He said that his parents did not feed him, and that mine did. Or once he said that I was 42 long and he was 42 short.

Old people can’t easily make good friends, and making a best friend late in life, in my opinion, is not possible. It takes years to really get to know someone, to be safe in sharing thoughts, ideas and secrets. When you are old, there is not enough time to build that kind of trust.

About 4 years ago, I got a call where Roger told me that a news story said that there would be men on Mars in the next decade or so. He said we should try to live long enough to see that come to be. I agreed. A few days later he sent me a package that contained six Mars candy bars. I have eaten all but one. The last I was saving so that both of us would could eat it together. Alas, that will not happen, but I will keep it as a reminder of him. When we meet again on the other side, we will visit Mars together, and then explore the universe for a million years. BFF.
 
Richard

For the first time in 74 years, Earth is in its first week without Roger Bothwell.

When I first attended Atlantic Union College, I wasn’t in an upbeat mood at my 2nd attempt to finish college. Meanwhile, I was going through some difficult times. I had a friend who also was going through some rough times and she told me one of the teachers had a website in which he wrote about things that would help one gain new views of life. One day during lunch at the cafeteria, she pointed him out and told me his name was Roger.

While pre-registering for classes I saw Roger climbing up the steps along with his wife, Ian, and I introduced myself and asked him for his web site address. He gave it to me and told me he was on his way to a meeting. While registering, I noticed he taught a class: Philosophy of Education. I figured I could take it as an elective even though I was not an education major.

When I first stepped into his classroom the following semester, he warmly greeted me and everyone that walked in, asked our names, and told us how fortunate he was in having us in his class. That was a first, I never heard a teacher give that kind of welcome. I’ll never forget that he started that day of class by first talking about Plato’s Cave. As the semester progressed, his class became so interesting that the other classes I was taking felt boring compared to his. His classes were so thought provoking that there wasn’t enough time to ask all the questions I wanted in class. So, at the end of class, I would wait for him and walk with him to his office asking him more questions about what he had just finished talking about. It was that semester, in the fall of 1998, that had such a big impact in life. I could write an entire book on the impact that semester had one me. I decided to take another class the following semester with him.

Then, one day, I decided to ask him about his web site. Not specifically about the content but about how to setup a website, as I wanted to start one. When I look back and see how much I enjoy my job in working with one of Hollywood’s biggest film directors (I run his website), Roger was one of the few that made it possible for me to start that career path. He took the time and patience to describe how to set up a web site. But, he didn’t have all the answers and he wasn’t afraid to tell you so. “There’s nothing wrong in saying `I don’t know, ‘ “ he would always teach us.

Roger also had a way of knowing how you were doing. One day I was feeling miserable as I had been laid off a crappy part time job and I had no money. I never told him and towards the end of our talk in his office, he gave me a handshake with a $20 bill. In those days, that was enough for a full tank of gas and a trip to Taco Bell! Aside from teaching he would help students in need. He once told me that he hoped that one day I would do the same to others as he had done with us.

Then one day, out of the blue, Roger invited me over to his house. He had some pizza and Mountain Dew…the typical student diet. We spoke about his career and he asked me about my background. He then showed me his new computer: a Compaq desktop with 32MB of RAM and a 20GB hard drive. He was so excited about having that hard drive that he told me how he didn’t know if he was going to be able to fill it all up, all 20GB.

Now, one thing I’ll tell you—as you might not know—is that besides being an educator, Roger was also a minister. Prior to being at AUC, Roger had served as a minster all over the US and in Uganda. I had one major difference with Roger—philosophically speaking—as I’m an agnostic. Although I never told Roger that explicitly, he kind of knew it, as I would ask him question an agnostic would ask him. But that wouldn’t keep either us from forming a good friendship throughout the years. When I started my professional career as a web designer, and it was time for me to move to California, Roger and Ian drove me to the Providence, RI airport. I would keep in contact with him all the time. When I moved back, I would visit him often and we would catch up on everything to politics to the latest electronic gear.

One thing that Roger was proud of was his family. He always talked about how his wife was so smart and beautiful (she is) and how his kids were having their own families and how proud he was in becoming a “Poppa” with his new grand kids. Roger adored his wife and seemed he was stricken by her personality, beauty, and intellect as he was when he first met her. She was the queen of his life and he kept his queen happy. As some of you who are in the SDA church might not know, Roger was offered the position of being President of the Northern California Conference. He took the position and resigned about 3 days later. He wasn’t too fond of being stuck in meetings which kept him away from helping people and being away from his wife and kids. The man that took that vacant position—if I recall correctly—later rose to one of the highest positions in the SDA organization. That’s how much Roger loved being with his family.

The day came when I decided to marry my princess. At the time, I had a great job and we were now living in Watertown. We decided to get a marriage license and hire a justice of the peace for the small ceremony. I called Roger and asked him if I could get married in his house as it was big enough for a small ceremony with family and friends. He said yes. I told him that a justice of the peace would be arriving before we did and he told me: “Hey, I can marry you and you could save $200!” We cancelled the justice of the peace and proceeded to get married. The next day we took everyone out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.

Throughout the years, Roger and his wife were very supportive of my wife and me. They helped us during some rough times with love and advice. When I would get the chance, I would go hear him preach on Worcester. Roger had a way of preaching for everyone. His sermons weren’t sermons at all. The one I most remember is the one where he talked about how society and its rules can dull the experience of living a happy life. Roger was also a cool modern man. One day he told me he heard a song in the radio that had a Johnny Cash vibe to it in which the singer sang “Your own Personal Jesus…” I told him it was by Depeche Mode and gave him a copy of the song. He liked it so much that he apparently wrote about it on his daily website. He also loved cars, more specifically American muscle cars. One story that I will remember is when he told me drove a motorcycle at over 110mph on a dirt road in Uganda. Apparently, that speed wasn’t enough for him as he became a private airplane pilot.

One of the things Roger would like to do is walk with his dog in the afternoons. He would do this every day at the nearby forest. At the time when digital photography was becoming mainstream, he would bring his camera and take photos. When we bought our first car (a Subaru WRX) he took pictures of me standing next to the car with his new camera. When I first bought my first professional camera, I asked him if I could shoot interiors of his home as it was nice and warm, he agreed. Years later when I started my brief photo career, we used his house as location for a shoot.

I could write forever about my experiences with Roger. The last ones we had were taking my son Ethan to visit Roger. Roger and Ian would always have a gift for Ethan including toys their kids had used when they were Ethan’s age. The last time I spoke Roger was about redoing his web site in July. I had done a redesign of his site back in 2010 and he wanted to control and publish his site online instead from his laptop. He was coming to officiate his granddaughter’s wedding in Pennsylvania and then he was to come to Maryland so that we could work on it and then go to Rita’s for some ice cream celebration. It never happened due to scheduling conflicts.

I was informed of his passing on the morning of Friday, October 27, 2017, by my wife.

The last email I received from him ended with the words: It’s more than time to get out of the revolving door and live the fullest life possible.

That was Roger for you. I will for always remember him.

— Nelson Lauren

 

P.S. The ceremony for Roger will take place November 25, 2017, at the Worcester Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2 Airport Drive, Worcester, MA 01602.

What becomes of this web site? The Bothwell family at this time will see what their options are and what the future brings. In the meantime, you can read Roger’s older post by checking the archives section of this web site. We are in the process of adding the older devotionals as he began writing them in the mid-late 1990s. Stay tuned.

I was enjoying people-watching as I sat in a hospital lobby waiting for my wife to appear outside the door with our car. The revolving door to the outside was quite large and handled lots of people coming and going. I particularly watched a cane carrying elderly lady slowly approach the door. For a just a moment she paused and then stepped in. Around she went – once, twice and finally on her third revolution I realized she had lost her bearings and couldn’t get out. Quickly I went to her and aided her outside.

She was so typical of millions of people living their lives and going nowhere. Each day is the same as they go round and round with little direction or goals in life other than getting their next paycheck. I found myself being so grateful to have Jesus in my life. In John 14:6 Jesus declared Himself to be The Way. The question is the way where. Jesus continued on “to the Father.” Now that is a destination everyone should want. To be with the Father is to have a life filled with grace, forgiveness, joy and eternal happiness. This is the life for which we were created.

The little old lady lost in the revolving door was so grateful for guidance and I must confess I felt so very good by being able to assist. I do so want to encourage you to take inventory of where you are going. If you find yourself merely going in circles go to Jesus and let Him guide you into eternity and while doing so find another to take with you. It’s more than time to get out of the revolving door and live the fullest life possible.

She looked like a car commercial. The top was down on her convertible as she raced down the highway with her long blond hair blowing in the wind. Her hair was a flurry of activity as it twirled and flowed. I’m sure she must have been taken with the spectacle that she was. I wondered if she had ever done this before and if so, had she not learned the price that was awaiting her. I am, of course, talking about her need to comb her hair when she was finished driving. The snarls, tangles and matted twists had to be a nightmare.

For every action there is a reaction. That is what sin is all about. God tells us not to do certain things, not to deprive us of happiness, but to increase our happiness. In His wisdom He knows consequences, short term and long. Whenever I see someone smoking I think about the short term ten dollar a pack price and the long term health destruction.
Because God is gracious and forgiving some people think they can count on His grace. They can. But grace does not wipe away the earthly consequences of our misdeeds; even when they are done in ignorance.
The mention of God’s wrath appears often in Scripture. It could leave us with the impression He is just waiting to zap us. That is far from the truth. There is active wrath and passive wrath. Active wrath is the zapping kind. Passive wrath is God allowing us to reap the natural consequences of our actions. When we yield to temptation God hurts as any good parent hurts for his or her child. We want the best for our families.