"Range Wars & Church Leadership!"

I know you have read about the “wars” that were fought between the cattlemen and sheep herders in the wild, wild West. These “wars” were very prevalent in west Texas and other places where pasture was at a premium. Do you know why the two groups could not get along?

The problem was that sheep graze differently that cattle. Cattle will usually only eat the tops of the grass and not get down close to the ground. It has something to do with the physical structure of their mouths, etc. Sheep, however, can (and will) graze to the point of eating the grass right down to ground level, therefore, making it impossible for cattle to graze on the same land. Obviously, this produced a huge problem for the cattle ranchers as they drove their cattle to the market. Many of them, if they did not die from hunger, had lost so much weight their value decreased dramatically.

Also, remember that one would “drive” cattle, but “lead” sheep! The sheep would just keep on eating until there was nothing left unless those in charge led them to a different area. Occasionally, a sheep would wander off by itself in search of food and fall prey to a hungry beast or become trapped in a vine, but others would die in the field from a lack of food. The problem was not with the sheep nor cattle, but with those whose job it was to lead them to greener pastures.

It is not unlike the responsibilities of tending to the flock of God today! God’s people have to be led, not driven! They will stay in the same spot forever unless someone leads them to greener spiritual pastures. Now, that is risky! God’s sheep may resist being led away from a barren, life-threatening area, but that resistance does not lessen the responsibility of those gifted with leadership.

However, if they are not led to greener pastures where life is, they will die in a barren wasteland. Some will wander off in search of food for their souls, but others will remain stagnant and die spiritually. The result is the same regardless!

--- Bill Butterfield
January 27,2012

Always Someone's Son!

I grew up in the Ohio River valley known as "Billy" Butterfield, the younger son of Tom and Martha Butterfield. When I began preaching, I was always introduced as "Tom Butterfield's son, Bill." It was like I had no personal identity and it seemed that I would always be known as someone else's son, brother, friend or whatever. I must admit when I became a teen, I resented that a bit...no, a lot! It was never: president of his senior class; student body president at Ohio Valley College (University, now); member of OVC chorus, etc...I was always attached to someone else!


Now, fifty years later, it still happens, but not nearly as much. I have had the unique privilege of preaching in (Colonial) Williamsburg, Virginia for the past fifteen years. It is unique for a lot of reasons, but one is that we have tons of tourists every year. We always have a few folk at every Sunday service from somewhere else. Among those who visit our area are families from Ohio and West Virginia who know the "Butterfield" name.


I still have folk who tell me, "Your Dad baptized me up in Monroe County, Ohio back in the 1950s," or, "Are you related to Tom W. Butterfield?" After such comments and questions, I know that I am in for a ten minute conversation about something that happened decades ago. But, something is different now! I enjoy all of those stories!


It is so refreshing to hear folk speak so kindly of Dad and Mom. To hear them share with me stories about the work that my parents did in various locations within a hundred miles of "the Valley." Baptisms. Marriages. Funerals. Revivals. The list goes on and on! All of those stories are a part of the heritage from my parents and each of them brings joy to my heart.


I can only pray that my sons will have similar experiences in their lifetime. Maybe they will hear about their Grandpa Butterfield's preaching or Grandma Butterfield's sweetness. I hope so! I guess there would be no greater joy than for them to complain about hearing stories about their Dad and Mom's efforts, too!


Yes, I was raised as a "preacher's kid" and have no regrets sharing my identity with those who loved me!



Bill Butterfield
Williamsburg, Virginia
December 30, 2011

"Wondering In Williamsburg" Returns!

After an absence of more than a year, Wondering In Williamsburg is back again! There were a number of reasons why Wondering.... has not been active, but I hope that time restraints, etc. will not interfere again and allow for it to be worthwhile and regular from this point forward. Many of you contacted me regarding Wondering... and I am humbled and gratified by your concern.


I hope that Wondering... can take a bit of a turn from the past by it being used as a means to challenge you to greater spiritual heights. It is so easy to become lax in our exercising of our mind and when this happens we cease to grow! I know it is comforting to read about how "right" one is, but my goal is not to make the comfortable more comfortable, but to challenge each reader to think...really think!


I remind you that anything appearing in Wondering... is the result of my own study, thoughts, and discretion. It is not my aim to be a spokesperson for anyone else, but me! You may not agree with everything you read in Wondering... and for that matter, I would probably be ashamed of you if you did. Sometimes I don't even agree with what I write because I am still a "work in process" and my thoughts can change regularly. I hold no one to what they believed and taught 20 years, weeks, days or minutes ago IF they are still studying and working through the intellectual process. I feel the same way about myself as long as I am studying and growing!

So, with the above re-introduction to Wondering In Williamsburg, I begin again!

Not "bad" kids...

I have had the privilege during the past few months to serve as leader of young people who needed to do some "community service." None of these young folk were in any serious trouble with the local departments, but had been careless in maintaining acceptable behavior. Things like staying out past the local curfew and misbehaving more than once in the classroom. During the course of time that I have spent with these young people, I have grown to appreciate each of them and to understand a little about their lives and situations, neither of which I will go into in this blog.




The reason I mention the above is because there are two young ladies cleaning our chapel area right now and they are here for the very first time. I wonder what it is that causes folk to behave in a manner that they know will cause them to serve "community service" time. No, it is not because they do not know what is in store for them because these are "repeat offenders!" [Written a bit in jest!]




I surmise that several things contribute to this form of misbehavior. In my humble opinion, one of the most frequent causes is lack of parental supervision and direction. In the cases this Summer, none had a solid family circle. In many of the families, one of the parents was completely absent due to abdicating his/her responsibility or completing their own "debt to society." With such an absence it falls on the single parent to provide a family income, therefore, absent from the home for hours at a time. We all know what happens when children are left unsurpervised!




Boredom! As I write this, school is just beginning for some, but not for all! Children have finished all of their Summer sports programs, vacations have long since been forgotten, and there is little to do except wait for the first school bell in the Fall. Never are the words, "idle hands are the devil's workshop," truer than at the end of Summer! I have some of those that I work with saying, "I am bored out of my mind! I can't just sit at home alone and do nothing!" Guess what? I understand...I really do!




Well, you get the idea! Rather than being super-critical of those who find themselves in some type of "trouble," we should be working to help them survive the lonely days of Summer! It would not take much for you to supervise some "community service" projects or, better yet, provide some type of adventure so that "community service" would not be necessary!




Any ideas? Please, share them with me.

If I Could Do It All Over Again...

I wonder what it would be like to begin life over again, but with the knowledge one currently possesses! Oh, I know that it is not possible, but I just wonder. What would I do differently since I know how it is going to turn out? Who would I have on my list of friends? What things would I get involved in knowing the headaches that some of them caused? I wonder...


For instance, would I have made friends with "Butchy" Boggess knowing that nearly sixty years later I would always wonder what happened to him? He and I were the best of friends in the first and second grades, but my family moved and I never saw him again! Does he still live in our hometown? Is he married? Did he follow his father's example and become a mechanic? I don't know...I will never know! If I had known that Laura Lytton did not even know that I existed, would I have walked home behind her everyday in the third and fourth grades? Probably not...but maybe!


Would I have run for senior class president in a school that I attended only two years? What about being student body president in the small junior college from which I graduated, would I do that again? If I knew then what I know then, would I have dressed like an African native in an Afro wig and mini-skirt for my senior class play? Would Dave Jordan and I have tried to get into every club in high school during our senior year (and we would have made it if the Future Nurses Of America would have been more open-minded)?


After junior college, would I have gotten married to the bride that has been by my side for the past forty-five years if I had known then what I know now? Would that bride and I have sought two young boys to adopt and love like we do? If I had known the difficult times we would have living in the "fish bowl" of being a preacher's family, would I have put my family through that experience? I wonder...


There are a few things that are certain! I would have done some things differently, especially in those youthful years, but I don't think I would have excluded any of those people who blessed my life during those days. I would have waited a little while to marry, but I would have married the same bride that has blessed my life over and over again. Those two boys would have been included in my life as my two best friends and the joys of my life.


Another thing that is certain is that I would not have made some of the mistakes that I made through ignorance or in rebellion. Most of those things will be taken to my grave forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ and certainly that would not have changed!


I guess if I could do it all again, it would be with the same people, but with some needed changes! I would, also, like to know if you ever wonder about doing things differently. Leave me a comment!

Do You Have A Gold Medal? I Don't!

The Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia will be over in a few days and most of us have enjoyed watching superior athletes compete for the precious gold medal that is given to the winner. Of the few dozen who will "win the gold," there are hundreds more that tried, but never quite skated fast enough, allowed the puck to get to the net, or missed that difficult move on the ice. I feel for those who tried to "win the gold," but never quite made it!


It is a little like life! All of us want to succeed at whatever we try, if we didn't we would never try, right? Whether we are trying to climb the ladder of professionalism or write that one song that will make our name memorialized forever or be the kind of parent that will allow our children to "rise up and call us blessed!" We all want to "win the gold!"

But what about those of us who fall a hundredth of a second short? What of those that never make it out of the mailroom in the office complex? What of the author whose work is good, but not "that" good? What if I must settle for silver or even bronze or no medal at all? Am I a loser because I did not "win the gold?"


As I sit and ponder what happened in life's Olympics, I must consider how much effort I made! Did I give it my all? Could I have work harder? Could I have spent more time honing my skills? Was I expecting way too much out of myself? These and other questions will make me wonder until the next time I choose to compete!


Remember one thing. You may never wear the gold medal around your neck, but that does not mean you are not a winner! Victory is nice, but trying to win creates the spirit of determination!

"Not everyone wins a gold medal...but everyone can try!"

Who Will Be Number Eight?

Am I the only person in the world who never heard of becoming an "honorary citizen of the United States?" I hope not! Did you know that throughout our 234 years of existence that we have honored seven people with "honorary citizenship?" I must have missed the day in history class where this was discussed.



The first one to receive such an honor was General Lafayette in 1784. He was selected for the part he played in our Revolutionary War. This was done by a very grateful nation!



It was two hundred years later before the second such honor was bestowed on Raoul Wallenburg (1981) for his efforts to rescue the Jews from the gas chambers during the Holocaust. Again, a much deserved recognition. I do wonder if there were no others during that two hundred years that accomplished something worthy of note, but he was the second one chosen.



The next two where a husband and his second wife. William and Hannah Penn were bestowed this honor in 1984 for their contributions to our nation through their work in Pennsylvania, but I am not exactly sure what those contributions were. Remember, I said that I must have missed history class the day that these things were discussed!



Kazimierz Pulaski was honored as the "father of the American calvary" in 2009, obviously making him the most recent so honored "citizen of the United States."



Even though the above honorees were recognized after their deaths, two were given the distinction as "honorary citizens" during their lifetime. Sir Winston Churchill was designated in 1963 for his leadership during World War II and for his very close ties with the United States during this period of history. The other honoree was Mother Teresa who was given the award in 1996 for her humanitarian ministry among the poor of this world.



I am wondering who will be the next person given such esteem? Where is that person living? What is he or she doing to merit such acclaim? Who will be the one that nominates them for such an award?



These and other interesting questions await answers!