May 4

"He maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth and his hands make whole." (Job 5:18)

The ministry¹ of a great sorrow.

As we pass beneath the hills which have been shaken by the earthquake and torn by convulsion, we find that periods of perfect repose² succeed those of destruction. The pools of calm water lie clear beneath their fallen rocks, the water lilies gleam, and the reeds whisper among the shadows; the village rises again over the forgotten graves, and its church tower, white through the storm twilight³, proclaims a renewed appeal to His protection "in whose hand are all the corners of the earth, and the strength of the hills is his also." –Ruskin.

God ploughed one day with an earthquake,

And drove His furrows⁴ deep!

The huddling⁵ plains upstarted,

The hills were all aleap!

But that is the mountains' secret,

Age-hidden in their breast;

"God's peace is everlasting⁶,"

Are the dream-words of their rest.

He made them the haunts of beauty,

The home elect of His grace;

He spreadeth His mornings upon them,

His sunsets light their face.

His winds bring messages to them--

Wild storm-news from the main;

They sing it down the valleys

In the love-song of the rain.

They are nurseries for young rivers,

Nests for His flying cloud,

Homesteads for new-born races,

Masterful, free, and proud.

The people of tired cities

Come up to their shrines⁷ and pray;

God freshens again within them,

As He passes by all day.

And lo, I have caught their secret!

The beauty deeper than all!

This faith--that life's hard moments,

When the jarring sorrows befall,

Are but God ploughing His mountains;

And those mountains yet shall be

The source of His grace and freshness,

And His peace everlasting to me.

--William C. Gannett.

五月四日

“因为他打破，又缠裹，他击伤，用手医治”（伯五：18）

　　我们行经那在昔日曾被地震所摇撼过的山麓，我们看到那经历了灾难的破坏之后，却有若干岁月的平静与安宁。池塘中水波不兴，躺在那昔年崩塌的岩石之下，水百合鲜艳明媚，芦苇浓密成荫，摇曳生姿，在那被遗忘的坟墓上，已建起了新的村庄，教堂的塔尖，在风雨晦冥之中巍然高耸，发出了新的呼吁，祈求神的保护。诗篇中说：“地的深处在他手中，山的高峰也属他”。（诗九十五：4）

有一天，神以地震代替耕耘，

把土地开掘得甚深，

广袤的平原朝天被翻起，

山岭也震动得如腾如崩。

但久藏于心之深处，

山岭有它的秘密，

知道神赐予永恒和平，

从这秘诀里得着安息。

神使山岭成为美丽处所，

也是他恩典的表征，

他以朝阳来照耀，

也以晚霞增加它们的婢婷。

风带来消息，

雨将从海上袭来；

声如音乐的鸣奏，

潺潺地传下山崖。

江河在这里孕育，

飞云也如此为巢，

新生的急流从此发源，

峰峦挺秀，独立巍峨。

城市里疲倦的人们，

上山来敬拜祈求圣恩，

神终日在这里经过，

给他们注入新的能力。

我已明白了其中奥秘，

虽当不幸的灾难降临，

要相信人生的艰困，

只是神在耕耘他的山岭。

这些山岭是说出

神恩与新生命的源头；

我们企求的永恒和平，

也可从这征象上找到因由。

——盖奈脱

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

3 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

4 furrows   

n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I could tell from the deep furrows in her forehead that she was very disturbed by the news. 从她额头深深的皱纹上，我可以看出她听了这个消息非常不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dirt bike trails crisscrossed the grassy furrows. 越野摩托车的轮迹纵横交错地布满条条草沟。 来自辞典例句

5 huddling   

n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事

参考例句：

• Twenty or thirty monkeys are huddling along the thick branch. 三十只猴子挤在粗大的树枝上。
• The defenders are huddling down for cover. 捍卫者为了掩护缩成一团。

6 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

7 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。