Back To Home Page To Archives - Spring of Life - H. Roger Bothwell Westerns I've always liked westerns because you can tell the good guys from the bad guys. When I was a boy the good guys were always clean-shaven and their clothes were spotless and pressed even though they just came to town from a long cattle drive. When they entered the saloon they always drank sarsaparilla and could get hit over the head with a chair without ever loosing their white hat. I wasn't the only one who liked them because there was a time when primetime TV was one western followed by another. Matt Dillon was always a good guy but I used to wonder about Miss Kitty. Too bad real life characters aren't so easy to peg. The problem is none of us are consistently good or consistently bad. I'm sure Hitler must have had a good moment or two just as Sister Teresa surely must have had a moment she regretted. Despite our best intentions we fail, some of us more than others. Some of the nicest people are the worst. They use their charm to take advantage of our desire to be surrounded by nice people. Fortunately for all of us there was one who lived among us who was consistently good though He wasn't always charming. His directness and sometimes scathing commentary on leadership put Him on a cross. The fascinating aspect is He was very gentle and very forgiving to some very unsavory characters. The ones He scorched were those who thought themselves to be good guys. That should be a great concern to those of us who "go to church." See Hebrews 4:15 and 9:28. I'm Roger Bothwell and my address is roger.bothwell@verizon.net or 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453. Thank you for your support of our faith ministry. Past devotionals can be accessed at Archives