Month: May 2018

This evening I found myself staring into the refrigerator. I wasn’t really hungry so what was I doing? I must be a conditioned lab rat and something triggered a “Go to the fridge” response. Without thinking I was going to put unnecessary food into me. As I closed the fridge door I wondered how many times a day I eat unnecessary food. I wish I would instead automatically look for spiritual food. I wish I would find myself browsing through my Bible just to see what is there. I must confess most always I open my Bible in search of some specific text or idea. It has become a toolbox instead of a treasure chest.

We need the tools that are there for character construction just as a craftsman needs tools. But there are delightful surprises to be found there. Sometimes while reading a familiar passage a brand new idea jumps out of the text and yells, “Hey, look at me.” Now that is not something you want to happen when staring into the fridge.

Recently I was reading John 14 where Jesus said, “In my father’s house are many rooms.” Suddenly I realized in God’s Kingdom there are many families with many different family names. Often we are tempted to be exclusive and think we (our group) are God’s favorites and the only ones that will be saved. We need to jolt ourselves out of our conceit and remember God once said to Elijah, “Not only you. I have 7000 others.”

My goal is to be conditioned to browse God’s word and to keep the refrigerator door closed.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 4, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

My four-year-old granddaughter approached me today with a blank piece of paper in one hand and a handful of markers in the other. She was all excited about writing me a letter. Soon she returned with a long list of squiggly lines and she asked me to read what she had written. So I sat about the task of deciphering her code into a story. When I finished I thanked her for writing such an exciting tale. She thanked me for the complement and walked away quite pleased with herself for authoring such a fine piece of literature.

As I watched her go I wondered if we sometimes or often present God with nothing much more than a jumble of deeds, ideas, thoughts and attitudes thinking we are giving Him this grandly scripted life. I am often dismayed at my inability to live consistently. All my grand designs to be good disintegrate when students and colleagues frustrate me with what I think is incompetence. Of course they could never think I am incompetent! So often at the close of a day I wish I had held my tongue and had been more discrete.

I have come to hope that God is taking all these inconsistencies and is weaving them into a lovely tapestry. Actually a tapestry is much more interesting than a plain cloth made of consistently colored threads. How’s that for rationalization? However with God’s help we can write a great life story filled with downs and then ups. The downs are interesting but the ups are incredibly glorious.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 3, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

Our world is such a complicated place it is difficult to do really good things. We give clothes for people in Africa and while the clothes do arrive in Africa they end up being sold in the markets for prices that undercut the local tailors and drive them out of business. We send food to Africa and when free food is distributed the local farmers can no longer sell their products in the market place and we end up destroying the local economy. Our good intentions end up doing more harm than good.

Most of us have on occasion tried our best to rectify something that is wrong only to make it worse. We go to someone to apologize and end up aggravating the situation. We go away wishing we had said nothing. Sometimes we do our very best with the very best intentions only to be misunderstood and have our speech and actions interpreted as selfishness. Life becomes a minefield to be crossed instead of a meadow of flowers to be picked.

No wonder Solomon urges us to seek wisdom. He wrote, “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, . . . for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.” Proverbs 3:13-18

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 31, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

When one rides through the Green Mountains of Vermont on a mid-summer day the overwhelming thought runs through your mind that it should be illegal for people to be allowed to live here. Gorgeous, well-kept farms and lawns sit atop rolling hills back dropped with breathtaking mountains deep green from the winter snows. The roadsides are littered with Black-Eyed Susans, Queen Anne’s Lace, Day Lilies and Purple Astors. The ponds are layered with Water Lilies and ringed with Purple Loose Strife. The deep blue sky is decorated with cumulous clouds billowing over a scene Monet could never reproduce. Thoughts run through your mind like, “Let’s quit our jobs and move here.” It is far away from the Disney Lands, Wall Drugs and Williamsburgs of our land. It is just the world the way it is supposed to be.

Perhaps children belted into the back seats of the family SUV would say, “When are we going to get where we’re going?” Or “I’m bored.” It is that way when we are small. Paul said, “When I was a child I thought as a child. But now that I am a man I think as a man.” There are so many things in life that change for us as we develop from one stage of life to another. Each stage has its wonders and things to appreciate. No longer am I fascinated by toy trucks. Now I am overwhelmed the complexity of a Vermont ecozone. The miracle of life fills me with awe and whets my appetite for an eternity of study. The best is yet to come!

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 30, 2003 and now he sleeps awaiting that eternity of study.
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

Galileo discovered the horizontal motion of a falling object is independent of its vertical motion. If I should shoot a bullet parallel to the ground and simultaneously drop an object from a height equal to the distance of the barrel of the gun from the ground both the dropped object and the bullet will strike the earth at the same time. The only difference will be where they strike the ground. The dropped object will be at my feet and the bullet might be a mile away depending upon its horizontal velocity.

There are certain laws of nature that consistently affect our lives. As surely as gravity pulls equally upon the moving bullet and the dropped object so we cannot fly in the face of such laws as Galatians 6:7-9 which reads, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

I cannot feed my soul on the corruptive mental filth of certain music lyrics or modern entertainment and expect to produce a quality socially contributive life. I cannot pour garbage into my brain and expect quality thoughts to come out my mouth. While external censorship is wrong in a democracy so is indiscriminate consumption wrong for the individual. Guard your mind. It is the only one you have.

Written by Roger Bothwell July 29, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

Our world teems with life. Scientists have labeled over 1.8 million different species and estimate that we are about one percent finished. Obviously it is the really little ones we haven’t named yet. One could spend one’s entire life just in his or her yard and never exhaust the range of life that lives there. It is estimated just one cubic foot of dirt is all we would need to give us a lifetime of activity if we had the right equipment and patience.

We don’t cohabit well with some life forms. Just this weekend I sat down on a lawn chair only to discover with great discomfort there was a yellow jacket nest on the bottom side of my bottom. Ouch. It is amazing how fast an old man can move. Need I say the yellow jackets did not fare well in the following minutes?

There is so much we don’t know about our world. Being associated with a college is such a treat because I am surrounded by chemists, cellular biologists, genetic experts, astronomers, geologists, historians, linguists, grammarians and on and on. It humbles us when we realize how little we know and there is so little time in life to learn more. When I was a boy I thought the gift of eternal life was a “cool idea” now that I am a man I realize it is a necessity.

“Now God formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. . . . So man gave names to all the livestock, the birds and all the beasts.” Genesis 2

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 28, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

As I was about to leave for school my wife called to warn me to be extra careful on the back road into our college. The local town policeman was sitting under his favorite tree with his radar gun. She had gone to class thirty minutes before I had to go.

A few minutes later as I turned off the main highway onto “the” road I was behind a nice little red car whose driver decided to try out his cornering skills. “Uh-ho,” I thought, “he’s gonna get it.” There was nothing I could do to warn him as he sped away from me. Sure enough a mile farther along I came upon him sitting beside the road with bright blue lights flashing into his rear window.

It is so frustrating to see someone rushing into trouble and being powerless to stop them. Perhaps that is why I enjoy teaching so very much. Teaching is all about warning people of the potholes, dead-ends, traffic tickets and plunges off cliffs in life. The Old Testament prophets were warners of coming danger. Usually the people were so annoyed by those fellows, they put them to death. We don’t like others telling us what not to do. Therefore, I won’t do that. Instead allow me to politely, carefully and gently urge you, beg you, plead with you, instruct you to please accept the free gift of eternal life Jesus offers.

Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 25:13

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2018
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

This evening in class a student asked me, “What is a diphthong?” I didn’t have a clue. I did not know if it was some form of phoneme or morpheme so I did what any wise man would do. I asked my wife. She was teaching in the classroom next door to my room. My students, 23 women out of 26 students, cheered when they realized where I was going. It was a great moment for feminism. My wife and I figure between the two of us we have one good brain. Genesis 2:24 says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” In this particular incident it is one brain.

She told me a diphthong was a complex speech sound that begins with one vowel and gradually changes to another vowel within the same syllable, as (oi) in oil. Returning to class I realized we were like a diphthong. We combine to produce a unique one out of two. Together we are not what we would be if we each stood alone.

Via the Holy Spirit Jesus desires to live in us. That union produces a new creature capable of doing things and being something far beyond our learned expectations of ourselves. The old U.S. Army slogan was, “Be all you can be.” This really is true when one becomes a diphthong with Christ.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 24, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

I am sitting here looking at a list of movie reviews. I am fascinated by the stars used to rate the viewing value of a film. It must be very satisfying to be in a five star film. And, how horrible it must be to be in a one star movie. Actually I see one here that has a half star. Wow that has to be really crummy.

I grew up singing a song in church called, “Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown?” I was told we would get a star in our crown for each person we won to Jesus. I used to think famous preachers would have lots of stars. I was worried I would not have any and I would have to go around heaven forever with a starless crown. To allay my fears I was told I would have one for me. As if I got to heaven by my own efforts.

The whole concept is like a military thing with rank by symbols displayed. I find myself hoping it is a myth. I don’t want to spend eternity feeling inferior to someone with more stars than I. The truth is I will be so grateful for the gift of life and the chance to spend eternity learning more and more about God’s creation and the secrets of life I could care less about any crown other than a very plain, very unsimple crown of life itself. That will suffice.

“When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” I Peter 5:4

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 23, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453

It has been more than fifty years since Dale Carnegie wrote his classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” In it he tells us six ways to make people like us. However, Mr. Carnegie is not the first to pass on such counsel. Paul beat him to it by 1900 years. In Colossians 4:6, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

So often when we listen to others speak we are not really listening to what they are saying, we are waiting for them to take a breath so we can jump in and tell our story or state our opinion. We want to look knowledgeable and we want others to listen to how wonderful we are. Paul would have us do just the opposite. We should be full of grace, thus making others shine. We should listen to them so we can ask them questions that would enable them to have the biggest fish story and the longest surgery scar. We should be the catalyst for another to stand out and never cut them off.

I know this is sometimes difficult, especially when our experience was wonderful. However with God’s help we can learn to be quiet. It is a rare experience for people to have others really listen to them. If we do they will be amazed at what a great conversationalist we are when we say little and let them talk. When we season with salt we use just a little. Let another be the main course.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 22, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453