Author: Ian Bothwell

This morning during a television interview, Ian McKellen, who portrays    Gandalf in the film trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien, said, and I cannot remember the exact context because the sentence leaped upon me, “Sometimes a fool’s wisdom is the best wisdom.”   My first response to this oxymoron was “What nonsense.”  But I could not shake it off.  It stuck with me and during the day I remembered the Roman Emperor Claudius who survived the treachery of his family by playing the fool.

But this was not what Ian McKellen was talking about.  He was talking about wisdom that wise people miss.  He was in the same arena as Paul when he wrote to the Corinthians the following.  ^“But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”         I Corinthians 2:4

To pretend to understand God is real foolishness. If we totally understood Him He would no longer be God but be a fantasy of our imagination.  He is beyond us, yet has through His greatest revelation, Jesus Christ, revealed enough of Himself that we might understand His Fatherly and redeeming love.  Paul said, “The things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: . .”  I Corinthians 3:13-14

Sometimes we need to leap beyond logic into the love that awaits us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 22, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

My granddaughters spent the afternoon making gingerbread houses.  Our table was immersed in Graham crackers, pretzel sticks, Gummy Savers, marshmallows, multi-colored Sprinkles and lots of frosting for glue.  But where I asked was the gingerbread?  What a stupid question.  Gingerbread houses are not about gingerbread.  This was an adventure in design and imagination.  Soon there were walls and roofs and sprinkling pathways leading from one fantasy house to the next.  The afternoon was filled with tales of little people living in sugar houses.

Surely one of the greatest gifts God has given to us is imagination.  Without imagination we would be a miserable lot eking out a living fighting off the elements and foraging for food.  Each year the imaginations of bright people bring us wonderful ways to improve our living.  Last week, just for fun, I sat in a 1965 Mustang and remembered when I owned a brand new one.  I remembered thinking what an incredible machine it was.  Now as I sat there stroking the steering wheel I was overwhelmed with how much cars have changed.  It is true they don’t build cars the way they used to.  Today’s cars are marvels that first existed in someone’s imagination.

Surely the best use of imagination would bring peace to a violently troubled world.  The best place to begin is right where we live.  My granddaughters’ gingerbread houses were homes filled with laughter and love.  Surely it is not too much of a stretch to imagine that for real.  Imagine love and it will be so.  Imagine peace and it will grow.  “Behold, the dreamer cometh.”  Genesis 37:19

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 17, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

The day before the grandchildren arrive is always grocery-shopping day.  I enjoy the cereal aisle.  It’s the fun one.  There are so many different kinds from which to choose. I don’t have a clue about most of them, so I usually go with Fruit Loops.  It’s an old favorite that never misses.

It was great when the children arrived.  At our first breakfast out came the Fruit Loops to great cheers.  It is a good thing God gave children mothers and not just grandpas.  Before the milk was poured over the pretty colored loops my daughter-in-law said, “Stop!”  Picking up the bowl and looking closely we were horrified to see the cereal moving all by itself.  At least it looked like it was moving by itself.  In reality it was full of tiny bugs, which must have been terrified because their dark sugary world had been disturbed.  So much for Fruit Loops.

I certainly don’t want to infer that Fruit Loops is anything like manna but I did think of the story in Exodus 16 about manna that was left over from the day before.  It was always wormy if the children of Israel tried to keep extra, except for Sabbath.  Friday was the only day they could collect for two days. That way they didn’t have to collect on Sabbath morning.  Each week the children of Israel had a vivid demonstration of God’s direct care.

Since God doesn’t show favorites (Acts 10:34) I assume we also get direct care.  Most of the time we just don’t see it.  We need to elevate our awareness.  It’s there.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 16, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

I found a very nice eight-foot stepladder in the middle of my street.  It had obviously fallen off someone’s truck but there was no truck or car in sight.   That evening I called everyone on my street who owned a truck seeking its owner but all I got from my neighbors was congratulations on my new acquisition.   It’s not often I find something of value.  Usually I’m the one who loses things of value like keys and tools.

But wait.  That is not exactly correct. On a very regular basis I find new friends.  They certainly have lots of value.  Each day in class I find out something new about one of my students.  Usually it is something that helps me relate better to them and perhaps be a better teacher for them.  That certainly has value. If I spend any time at all with my Bible I find things of value.  What amazes me about that is it is not seeing a text for the first time but seeing new meaning in a text that I have read a hundred times.   Ninety percent of the time I begin my classes by reading a passage of Scripture.  Sometimes my students stop me and tell me I already read that one this semester.  I like it when that happens because they remembered and I found out something new about them.  They are listening.

So I regularly find things of value.  They just aren’t stepladders or green pieces of paper with presidents’ pictures on them.  But they have tons of value. How about you?  What have you found today?

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 10, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

Myrtle was a community novelty.  Her odd ways did not place her on top of community invitation lists for weddings and social events.  Yet she somehow knew when events were occurring and would show up in her very plain dress and with a brown bag to collect food to take home.  It was not that she did not have enough.  She had a steady job.  Modern psychologists would probably say she had arrested development with childlike characteristics.   Most people were standoffishly polite to her, halfway afraid she was an angel God sent to test them.  No one wanted to show up on judgment day and find Myrtle standing by the right hand side of God’s throne knowing they had not been nice to her.  And so when she appeared uninvited at functions no one rebuffed her but pretended they didn’t see when she filled her bag with the leftovers.

The first time I saw Myrtle was at my wedding.  As part of the wedding preparations a very lovely bag of nice things was made ready and given to Myrtle.  Surely there would be no need for her to feel the embarrassing necessity of gleaning the reception hall.  However as my new bride and I were about to leave I looked across the room and there was Myrtle filling her brown bag.

Myrtle was little different than most of us.  God has prepared a banquet for us and we prefer leftovers.  Instead of opening our Bibles and reading for ourselves we depend on preachers and teachers to tell us what they ate of God’s wonders when God has a full bag prepared just for us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 10, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

In July of 2003 a Viennese team of nine surgeons led by Rolf Ewers replaced a diseased tongue with a tongue from a brain-dead donor.  The recipient can talk and eat but has no sense of taste.  It would be fun to think the man with the new tongue now had the same vocabulary and accent as the donor but the tongue no more builds sentences any more than a hammer builds a house.  It is a tool like a hammer and can be used constructively or destructively.  A hammer can drive home a nail and a tongue can drive home an idea.  A hammer can smash a multitude of things and a tongue can smash human egos and personalities.

When we were little we sang, “Sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me.”   It would be difficult to find a more inaccurate sentence. The wounds from sticks and stones heal but the wounds from names and ridicule can damage a life beyond repair. I used to wonder why we are so eager to believe the worst about others but now I believe it is because we believe the worst about ourselves.  There is an old saying that misery loves company.  If we can drag down others then maybe we wouldn’t look so bad.

Let’s use our tongues to encourage others.  Everyone has some good points.  Tell them we noticed.  If they are young, speak of their gifts and fill them with hope.  Assure them God has dreams for them with ample power available for success.  In return they might say something nice about us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 9, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

Two separate teams of astronomers, one in Virginia and one in France, have recently discovered our galaxy is gobbling up a neighboring galaxy.  Every 750 million years, the oval orbit of our neighbor brings it close enough for our gravitation to capture some suns.  I would like very much to verify this by actual observation.  However, my present limitation of about eighty years of life seems to remove this from my list of “been there and done that’s”, so I am definitely counting on the promise of eternal life.  If I get busy and miss the next orbital pass I don’t have to be concerned because I’ll catch the next one or the next.

If I sound confident about this, it has everything to do with trusting the promises made to all of us.  Paul assures us in Ephesians 2 eternal life is a complete gift from start to finish.  We have no goodness to contribute to it for if we did we would soon be boasting that we did the whole thing.  Now, the question is, “Just why would God want to do this for us?”  According to Paul it is so God can spend eternity showering us with gifts. If I had never been a parent I don’t think I would understand this.  But now I know the rush of happiness that comes from seeing one’s child prosper and grow.  It makes our day.

I certainly don’t want to make God sound selfish, but the truth is He loves it when we do well.  It makes Him feel like the great Father that He is.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 7, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

The Art of War written by Sun-Tzu is the oldest military treatise in the world.   It doesn’t matter that it was written 2000 years ago.  His ideas are classic and very much worth the study of any general who wishes to win a war.  He has given us seven indicators, which will determine who will ultimately win a war.  It is fascinating to apply them to the battle between Jesus and Lucifer.

He says we must ask (1) “Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with moral law?”   This one automatically goes to Jesus since He was without sin.  Hebrews 4:15

(2) “Which of the two generals has the most ability?”  Jesus is the creator.  He can make anything.  Hebrews 1:2

(3) “With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?”  Jesus is at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  It doesn’t get any better than that!  Hebrews 1:3

(4) “On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?”  Even the wind and waves obey Jesus command of “Peace be still.”   Mark 4:39

(5) “Which army is stronger?”  Jesus has legions of angels at His disposal.  Matthew 26:53

(6) “On which side are officers and men more highly trained?”   Jesus’ power received the recognition of a Roman centurion as one who could command and get results.  Matthew 8

(7) “In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?”  Hebrews 11:6 assures us Jesus is a rewarder of all who seek Him.

The above is a paid recruitment advertisement.  The cost was the life of Jesus Himself.   Join up.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 4, 2003.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574