Roger Bothwell

While waiting in a line I could not but overhear a despicable and ignorant conversation happening between two men waiting in the same line.  The conversation started just fine but quickly degenerated.  It began with the observation that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah overlap this year and this would not happen again for 76,000 years.  Just then a Muslim woman with her head scarf walked past our line.  Then it started.

“Why do we allow those people to be here?  Don’t people know this is a Christian country?”

The irony of those ignorant remarks came on top of the Hanukkah remarks.  How interesting that this conversation was occurring in Massachusetts populated by the Puritans with their biased exclusivity.  Fortunately Massachusetts moved on from that, though we still have blue laws.

Religious liberty has been the hallmark of America.  This remarkable idea, rare in the world, made us different and set a standard that many other nations have since emulated.  It is amazing this concept took root here and grew when one looks at human nature.  It is natural for us to see others as “them” and ourselves as “us.”   “Them and Us” is the root of suspicion, exclusiveness, dislike and ultimately hate that bears its ugly fruit in pogroms and war.

Our self-love wants the best for “Us” and second best for “Others.”  One of the ultimate goals of character building is to become someone who sees others as “Us” and to want for others what we want for ourselves.

Jesus understood when He said, “Love ‘others’ as we love ourselves.”  Paul understood this when He wrote “While we were God’s enemies He died for us.”  It is easy to love “Us.”  Our goal as Christians is not to love “Them” but for there to be no “Them.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 28, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

If you have or have had a dog you will understand how quickly they learn the word “walk.”   You think they are asleep and you casually say “walk” and instantly they are dancing in front of you.

“Where’s the leash?  Let’s go.  Stop messing with your coat.  Why don’t you wear one all the time like I do?”

So you stop using that word and replace it with “go around.”  A week later they know those words.  Then you start spelling but that also is quickly learned.  In our house we are now working on the word, “circumvent.”  It’s only a matter of time.

Initially I thought of writing about why we keep pets and making an analogy as to why God keeps us.  However, that is a horrible analogy because we are not God’s pets.  We are God’s children.  There is a huge difference. No matter how much time I spend teaching my dog, she will never comprehend thoughtful issues. She knows to protect her territory (our home).  She searches the house and starts bumping me when food is on the table.  As grand as those things are they are not reading or creating art.  Nose art on the car windows doesn’t count.  In some ways she is more loyal than most people.  She is more forgiving than most of us.  She understands shame and will, until she is too old, dance when I come home.

However, despite all her ingratiating qualities, she will never bring me the deepest feelings of satisfaction that I get from my sons.  God knows this satisfaction.  If we are to be in His image He had to give us the ability to procreate.  It is the closest thing we can do to bring us into His image.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 26, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Two guys were pumping gas on the opposite side of the pump I was using.  I wasn’t paying any attention to their conversation but when one of them left to go inside for coffee the younger came around the pump and said to me, “I apologize for my friend’s language.  He is really quite vulgar.”   I thanked him for his concern. Even though I heard voices I had not mentally registered any vulgarity or really anything at all.

It made me wonder about my classes.  Even though my students hear my voice I seriously doubt if many mentally register anything at all.  Then there is the issue of the Holy Spirit trying to communicate with us.  That still small voice sometimes roars at us and we never register anything at all because we are not paying attention.  God is always present; therefore, no opportunity for Him to tell us something is wasted.  God is an opportunist.  One might even go so far as to accuse Him of being pushy.  The reason He is that way is He understands the eternal importance of our responses to Him.  If we saw a child playing in the middle of the street we would do everything we could to get her attention either by yelling or running to grab her.  God sees the truck coming.  Usually we do not.

Let’s go back to the young man at the gas pump.  I appreciated his concern and civility.  He did not have to say anything to me.  I am guessing his parents did a very good job raising him.  We usually judge a craftsman by the quality of their work and I can’t think of any craftsmanship more important than parenting.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 25, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Thanksgiving is inventory time.  It’s time to count one’s assets.  I have noted that the longer I live the longer grows the positive side of my life’s balance sheet.  Of course there are some negatives.  If there weren’t we wouldn’t call it a balance sheet.  However, the positives are so heavily weighted on my balance sheet, if I were a public corporation selling stock the share value would be rising every day.

Have you ever had so much good happen to you that you started worrying about what was coming, because you know in a world filled with disasters and disappointments the streak cannot keep going?  I have family and friends.  I have a warm home in a wonderfully snowy New England.  I have my health.  Yes, I do.  I am better.  After eight years of struggling with leukemia and trying five different kinds of chemo and trying experimental procedures in Philadelphia I am finally better, not from the list I just mentioned, but from a new pill just made available a few months ago and it works.  Thank you for all your prayers.

It is the prayers that bring me to my/our best blessing.  We have a God who truly is a loving and caring Father.  It was risky when Jesus told us to call God, Our Father.   It was risky because some people have lousy fathers.  I was blessed with a good one.  If you had a lousy father then think of God as the father you wish you had had because He is the best.  He is so good He makes Opie’s dad, Sheriff Taylor, look bad.

If your balance sheet has lots of negatives let me assure you that our heavenly Father knows and is going to be sure to compensate you for that with wonders untold.  That’s a Thanksgiving Promise.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 27, 2014

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I know some people who really think they are important enough to be personally tempted by Satan himself.  What an ego!  Since only God is everywhere present that is saying a lot about just how important those persons think they are.  The truth is even if Satan was dead we wouldn’t get any better.  We are sinners just as he is and we are really good at tempting ourselves and blaming it on someone else.

This is part of the mindset that invents conspiracies.  Recently I listened to someone go on about how the United States faked the moon landing in the 1960’s.  Do they really think the Russians, with whom we were having a space race, would have allowed us to get away with a fake?  Nothing would have made them happier than to have exposed us as frauds.  There were thousands of people involved with the moon landing.  Surely there would have been one whistle blower in the crowd.

While it might be amusing to invent conspiracies and be the center of attention at a party as we espouse our fantasies, it is important to know the difference between what we make up and what is real.  Peter certainly knew that many conspiracists would make up theories to mock the resurrection of Jesus.  In II Peter 1:16 he wrote, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”   And John wrote, “We touched the Lord of Glory with our own hands.”  Peter died a horrible death for Jesus.  Do we really think he would have endured that for a made up story?

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 13, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Tolstoy begins his classic novel Anna Karenina as follows, “ALL happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Have you ever noticed the interest level of Christmas letters from various families?  The ones that report 12 months of joy and perfection are not nearly as interesting as those that beguile us with 52 weeks of interesting misery and failure.  “Jim lost his job.  Jacob broke his leg. Nancy is pregnant.  I’m taking Prozac.” is much more interesting than “Jim got a huge raise. (We hate him for that.)  Jacob won all his ball games and Nancy was 4th runner up in the Miss Mudville beauty pageant.”  Movie directors often put a bad word in their production to keep it from getting a G rating, which is a death knell at the box office.  Cinderella is interesting because of her evil stepmother and step sisters.  It wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if the prince wasn’t rescuing her.

This brings me to our projected concept of heaven.  Being that there will be no misery, no broken legs, etc. will we entertain each other with travelogues of our universal sightseeing? Or will our minds only be filled with philosophical discussions of our new insights into the plan of redemption?  We will certainly develop artistic skills.  Will the products of our studios be mirrors of perfection as opposed to few such interesting works we see here?

The story of redemption is interesting for us in that it is a rescue story.  Jesus saves us from evil.  He saves us from Satan.  He saves us from the wicked.  He saves us from ourselves.  So just how will we spend forever?  What will we read?  What will we paint and talk about?  There is so much we need to know about our future.  It is more than petting lions.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 14, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Yesterday my wife was observing in a first grade in Boston when a little guy snuck up to her and smugly whispered in her ear, “I’m the best in the reader in the room.”  Then he waited for her to tell him how wonderful he was.  How grand it is to be six years old and be so guileless.  As adults we play this game differently.  When we do something really good and people compliment us we often defer by saying something like, “Thanks, but it was just okay.”   That usually elicits a repeat of the compliment and inwardly we love it.  It is music to our ears.  We are not as guileless as a six year old.

Everybody has a gift and blessed is the person who knows what it is and has an opportunity to use it.  I become distressed when I hear people tell young people, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”  That is not so.  We can dream of winning marathons or performing in Carnegie Hall, but we have to have the talent.  I cannot be a National Basketball Association player even if I dream it.

We bless children when we help them find their gifts and enable them to be the best at whatever matches those gifts.  When people tell them how good they are, teach them to say, “Thank you.”  That is music to them and to the one complimenting them.  While I am thinking of music to our ears, the best thing we will ever hear is Jesus saying to us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: . . . enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”   Now that is not just music.  That is a symphony.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 22, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

Just recently I have had a relatively minor spike in my blood pressure. It is nothing to be concerned about but something that raised my curiosity.   Why?  I think the answer became evident upon examination of my diet.   One of the delights of my childhood was what we called beer pretzels.  They are large hard as a rock pretzels decorated with large grains of salt.  Instead of being called beer pretzels they are marketed as sourdough pretzels.  A few weeks ago while checking out of our supermarket I was beckoned by a large container of those childhood delights.  It had been years since I had any.  I could not resist.  And so night after night for the past few weeks I have been chomping down lots of salt, thus the higher blood pressure.

In high school physics class I learned for every action there is a reaction.  Jet airplanes are a prime example.  It is also true in every aspect of life.  Friendly people have friends.  Nice people usually are treated nicely.  We do live in an imperfect world and some people spoil the reaction.  There are exceptions.  Mostly what we eat affects our bodies.  Some people smoke all their lives and live into their nineties.  But let’s be honest.  We know those people are an exception to the rule.  Be abusive to others and end up spending a lonely old age. Return tithe to God and discover blessings that would have remained unknown.

My favorite is making friends with Jesus and living forever.  That’s a good one.  I can’t think of a better reaction to any action.  As for my pretzels, I finished them and will resist another container.  I think.  I will try.  They are awfully good.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 21, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Four and a half months had passed since the battle when Abraham Lincoln rose to speak at Gettysburg for just over two minutes.  There was no applause at the end.  Perhaps those in attendance were shocked that he finished so soon.  Republican newspapers lauded the speech and Democratic newspapers panned it.  Partisan politics have not changed because people have not changed.  People are people are people.  Lincoln said, “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here.”  How wrong he was.  We remember.  His classic lines have become part of our national fabric as each generation longs for that new birth of freedom so we might continue the realization of the American dream.

As a teacher I try to remember that we think students will little remember what we say to them.  They will not remember our fabulous lectures.  Instead they will remember the one on one comments.  The comments after class, the short conversations in the hallway or in our offices are what they remember.  We, the teachers, do not remember.  I should not be surprised that I do not remember when years later students tell me I said “so and so” to them.  After all, I remember the personal remarks from my teachers.

This is not only true for teachers.  The things adults say to young people in our churches are remembered and often become the foundation for their future attendance and even more importantly, their relationship to Christ.   When we are tempted to make a smart remark about their hair, their clothes, the pierced nose or lip, we might want to bite our lip.  They will remember long after they have matured and removed the hardware.  We thought we witnessed.  But what did we really do?

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 20, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Have you ever said something that resulted in the very opposite reaction of which you expected?  It happened to me.  I was in a big easy chair faithfully getting an infusion when a 50ish looking lady entered the room for her very first time.  Fear was written all over her face.  Her diagnosis was terribly fresh and she was reeling with thoughts of her mortality.  The nurses were incredibly kind as they soothed her into the chair beside me.  Everything they did was done slowly and with kindness as they carefully explained each step.  Those needles and bags of clear fluid can be intimidating.

When there was a moment without anyone attending her I turned to her tearing eyes and said, “They will take wonderful care of you.  I have been coming here for seven years and I am doing really well.”  I couldn’t have said anything worse.  Mentioning seven years put her over the top and the sobbing began.  She was crushed and so was I as I realized that time remark must have sounded like an eternal life sentence.  I was so sorry.

But what can you do after you have spoken?  You can’t take the words back.  Unlike a white board in a classroom you cannot erase what has been spoken.  There it was like a giant monster hovering over her.  I was Dr. Frankenstein who had created this living thing.  Fortunately for me the oncologist came over and skillfully undid what I had done.

Sometimes our very best intentions go awry.  All we can do is be sorry and pray that somehow it will be rectified.   Sometimes the problem continues not because of us but because the other will not let it go.  That is sad.  But at least we did our best.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 19, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org