May 2

"The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all." (Psa. 103:19)

Some time since, in the early spring, I was going out at my door when round the corner came a blast of east wind--defiant and pitiless, fierce and withering--sending a cloud of dust before it.

I was just taking the latchkey from the door as I said, half impatiently, "I wish the wind would"--I was going to say change; but the word was checked, and the sentence was never finished.

As I went on my way, the incident became a parable¹ to me. There came an angel holding out a key; and he said:

"My Master sends thee His love, and bids me give you this."

"What is it?" I asked, wondering. "The key of the winds," said the angel, and disappeared.

Now indeed should I be happy. I hurried away up into the heights whence the winds came, and stood amongst the caves. "I will have done with the east wind at any rate--and that shall plague us no more," I cried; and calling in that friendless wind, I closed the door, and heard the echoes ringing in the hollow places. I turned the key triumphantly². "There," I said, now we have done with that."

"What shall I choose in its place?" I asked myself, looking about me. "The south wind is pleasant"; and I thought of the lambs, and the young life on every hand, and the flowers that had begun to deck the hedgerows. But as I set the key within the door, it began to burn my hand.

"What am I doing?" I cried; "who knows what mischief³ I may bring about? How do I know what the fields want! Ten thousand things of ill may come of this foolish wish of mine."

Bewildered and ashamed, I looked up and prayed that the Lord would send His angel yet again to take the key; and for my part I promised that I would never want to have it any more.

But lo, the Lord Himself stood by me. He reached His hand to take the key;and as I laid it down, I saw that it rested against the sacred wound-print.

It hurt me indeed that I could ever have murmured against anything wrought⁵ by Him who bare such sacred tokens of His love. Then He took the key and hung it on His girdle.

"Dost THOU keep the key of the winds?" I asked.

"I do, my child," He answered graciously.

And lo, I looked again and there hung all the keys of all my life. He saw my look of amazement⁶, and asked, "Didst thou not know, my child, that my kingdom ruleth over all?"

"Over all, my Lord!" I answered; "then it is not safe for me to murmur⁴ at anything?" Then did He lay His hand upon me tenderly. "My child," He said, "thy only safety is, in everything, to love and trust and praise." --Mark Guy Pearse.　

五月二日

“耶和华在天上立定宝座；他的国统管万有”（诗一〇三：19）。

　　有一次，在初春的早晨，我刚开门出外，一阵残酷，无情的东风，吹着一阵灰沙，向我扑来。

　　我急躁地埋怨道：“我巴不得这风…”——我意思要说：“不再有”；可是这三个字在我喉间搁住了，说不出来。

　　在我途中，这件事继续居住在我脑海中。我把它演绎成了一段寓言故事：

　　一个天使来了，手中执着一把钥匙；他说：“我的主人吩咐我把这一把钥匙给你”。

　　我带着惊奇的口吻问道，“这是什么？“天使说，“掌管风的钥匙”，说罢便不见了。

　　现在我应该非常快乐了。从此可以随我的心愿，随便对付我所厌恶的风了。我急忙跑到山上，风的库房就在前面。“我无论如何必先解决寒冷的东风，使它不再为害人间”，我这样说，于是把无情的东风叫了来，关入岩穴，听它在里面咆哮。我胜利地旋上钥匙，得意地说：“问题就此解决了”。我去开启了南风的门。我顶得意地说：“世上再没有残酷，无情的冷欺人了。从此植物月月开花，季季结果；年初到年终，都是和暖，可爱的气候…”言未毕，一股热气从门里冲出来，把我的手灼得痛彻肺腑。

　　地上的青草一霎那间都转黄了，我的得意之作摧残了全世界的生命。我发急喊道：“我闯了多大的祸啊！我没有想到它们的需要！我真多么愚蠢”！

　　又惘怅，又羞愧，我求主再差遣他的天使来把钥匙拿去；我同时应许说我以后决不敢再掌管风的钥匙了。

　　看哪，主自己站在我旁边。他伸出有钉痕的手来把钥匙拿去，把其余三扇门都打开；空气中调剂了许多冷风，顿时觉得满身凉快了。

　　我这时就想到：我是谁，竟敢埋怨主所安排的呢？他把钥匙挂在腰间。

　　我问道：“主啊，这风的钥匙是你经管的么”？

　　他答道：“是的，我的孩子”。

　　看哪，我又看见我生活中所有的钥匙都挂在那里。他看见我脸上带着惊奇之色，就问我说：“我的孩子，你岂不知道我的国统管万有么？”

　　我回答说：“主啊，是的。既是你有钉痕的手——满有爱的手——使用那些钥匙，叫我遭遇平安或患难，喜乐或忧愁，顺境或逆境，从此以后，无论什么事情，我就不再埋怨；都要信靠，安息，赞美了。“——披尔斯

1 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

2 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

3 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

4 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

5 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

6 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。