March 9

"Look from the top." (Song of Solomon 4:8)

Crushing weights give the Christian¹ wings. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but it is a blessed truth. David out of some bitter experience cried: "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away, and be at rest" (Psa. 55:6). But before he finished this meditation² he seems to have realized that his wish for wings was a realizable one. For he says, "Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee."

The word "burden" is translated in the Bible margin³, "what he (Jehovah) hath given thee." The saints' burdens are God-given; they lead him to "wait upon Jehovah," and when that is done, in the magic of trust, the "burden" is metamorphosed into a pair of wings, and the weighted one "mounts up with wings as eagles. --Sunday School Times.

One day when walking down the street,

On business bent⁴, while thinking hard

About the "hundred cares" which seemed

Like thunder clouds about to break

In torrents⁵, Self-pity said to me:

"You poor, poor thing, you have too much

To do. Your life is far too hard.

This heavy load will crush you soon."

A swift response of sympathy

Welled up within. The burning sun

Seemed more intense. The dust and noise

Of puffing⁶ motors flying past

With rasping blast of blowing horn

Incensed still more the whining⁷ nerves,

The fabled⁸ last back-breaking straw

To weary, troubled, fretting⁹ mind.

"Ah, yes, 'twill break and crush my life;

I cannot bear this constant strain

Of endless, aggravating¹⁰ cares;

They are too great for such as I."

So thus my heart condoled¹¹ itself,

"Enjoying misery," when lo!

A "still small voice" distinctly said,

"Twas sent to lift you--not to crush."

I saw at once my great mistake.

My place was not beneath the load

But on the top! God meant it not

That I should carry it. He sent

It here to carry me. Full well

He knew my incapacity

Before the plan was made. He saw

A child of His in need of grace

And power to serve; a puny¹² twig

Requiring sun and rain to grow;

An undeveloped chrysalis;

A weak soul lacking faith in God.

He could not help but see all this

And more. And then, with tender thought

He placed it where it had to grow—

Or die. To lie and cringe beneath

One's load means death, but life and power

Await all those who dare to rise above.

Our burdens are our wings; on them

We soar to higher realms of grace;

Without them we must roam for aye

On planes of undeveloped faith,

(For faith grows but by exercise

In circumstance impossible).

Oh, paradox¹³ of Heaven. The load

We think will crush was sent to lift us

Up to God! Then, soul of mine,

Climb up! for naught¹⁴ can e'er be crushed

Save what is underneath¹⁵ the weight.

How may we climb! By what ascent

Shall we surmount¹⁶ the carping cares

Of life! Within His word is found

The key which opes His secret stairs;

Alone with Christ, secluded¹⁷ there,

We mount our loads, and rest in Him.

--Miss Mary Butterfield.

　 三月九日

“从...顶...往下观看”(歌四:8) 。

　　重压使基督徒飞腾。似乎是矛盾，其实是真理。大卫在苦难中喊叫说:“但愿我有翅膀像鸽子，我就飞去，得享安息”(诗五十五：6)。他的祷告尚未完毕，他似乎已经承认他的心愿已经达到，真生了翅膀。因为他不再觉得重压，并且还能凭他的经验劝人说:“你要把你的重担卸给耶和华，他必抚养你”(二十二节) 。

　　“重担”在圣经的边注里译作“神所给你的东西”。信徒的重担原是神给的;　重担帮助我们等候神，依赖神；什么时侯我们能满足神的用意，什么时侯身上的重担就化成翅膀，我们就能“如鹰展翅上腾”。(赛四十：31)——译自主日学报

　　一日，我在街上奔走，

　　事业的重负使我忧心忡忡，

　　种种烦虑有如阵雨之欲来，

　　胸中乌云密布。

　　于是自怜的心对自己说：

　　“可怜的人啊！你要做的事太多。

　　你实在太劳苦。

　　这沉重负担不久会使你困苦。”

　　心中起了强烈反应，

　　好如暴露在炎热阳光下，

　　更如街车疾驶而过,灰尘飞扬，

　　喧哗杂闹和刺耳的噪音，

　　紧张更添了刺激，

疲累而困恼的心，

　　已经达到了崩裂的边疆。

　　“哦!　是的,　它会压碎我的生命；

　　我无法忍受无穷无尽的紧张，

　　不断而来的忧虑，

　　对我真是重压难当。”

　　我的心哪自安自慰说：

　　“安心於不幸吧！”

　　忽然听到细微之声清晰地说：

　　“这不是来压碎你，而是来支持你。”

　　我立刻发现落入重大错误中，

　　我的地位不在重负下，却在重负上！

　　神的美意不是让我去背负，而是神背负我。

　　神在安排他旨意之前，

　　他早已知道我的缺点，

　　亦看清了我的脆弱灵魂，

他的子民需要恩典和能力，

一枝嫩芽需要阳光雨露来培养。

他未作帮助之前把一切看清，

然后按照他的旨意与周详的慈念，

把它放在它应站的地位上，

这是生死两可的关键。

在重负之下畏缩瘫痪下死亡，

有勇气站起身来，就得生命力量。

我们的负担就是我们的翅膀；

借此可以飞升到天上恩慈座旁；

如果没有信心的翅膀，

我们信心将永不成熟仰望。

“信心非经困难环境的锻练，决不成长”。

这是天国奥秘的真理。

我们以为有压碎我们生命的重负，

其实是背负我们飞向天上神的翅膀。

向上爬吧！决不会被压碎，

除非你沉滞在重负之下，

我们怎样向上爬！

如何能凌驾在忧患与苦闷之上；

哦神；你的话显示向上的阶梯，

就是我们先隐退一时，

和基督单独相处，

就是凌驾一切忧患重负的秘方，

因着主耶稣基督，得到他安息与慈祥。

——白德菲

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

8 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。

10 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

11 condoled   

v.表示同情，吊唁( condole的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He condoled with me upon the death of my father. 我父亲死了，他向我表示吊唁。 来自辞典例句
• Her friends condoled with her when her husband had lost a leg in the accident. 她的丈夫在这次事故中失掉一条腿，她的朋友们都向她表示慰问。 来自辞典例句

12 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

13 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

14 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

15 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

16 surmount   

vt.克服；置于…顶上

参考例句：

• We have many problems to surmount before we can start the project.我们得克服许多困难才能著手做这项工作。
• We are fully confident that we can surmount these difficulties.我们完全相信我们能够克服这些困难。

17 secluded   

adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• Some people like to strip themselves naked while they have a swim in a secluded place. 一些人当他们在隐蔽的地方游泳时，喜欢把衣服脱光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This charming cottage dates back to the 15th century and is as pretty as a picture, with its thatched roof and secluded garden. 这所美丽的村舍是15世纪时的建筑，有茅草房顶和宁静的花园，漂亮极了，简直和画上一样。 来自《简明英汉词典》