May 15

"Men see not the bright light which is in the clouds." (Job 37:21)

The world owes much of its beauty to cloudland. The unchanging blue of the Italian sky hardly compensates¹ for the changefulness and glory of the clouds. Earth would become a wilderness² apart from their ministry³. There are clouds in human life, shadowing, refreshing⁴, and sometimes draping it in blackness of night; but there is never a cloud without its bright light. "I do set my bow in the cloud!"

If we could see the clouds from the other side where they lie in billowy glory, bathed in the light they intercept⁵, like heaped ranges of Alps, we should be amazed at their splendid magnificence.

We look at their under side; but who shall describe the bright light that bathes their summits and searches their valleys and is reflected from every pinnacle⁶ of their expanse? Is not every drop drinking in health-giving qualities, which it will carry to the earth?

O child of God! If you could see your sorrows and troubles from the other side; if instead of looking up at them from earth, you would look down on them from the heavenly places where you sit with Christ; if you knew how they are reflecting in prismatic beauty before the gaze of Heaven, the bright light of Christ's face, you would be content that they should cast their deep shadows over the mountain slopes of existence. Only remember that clouds are always moving and passing before God's cleansing⁷ wind. --Selected.

"I cannot know why suddenly the storm

Should rage so fiercely round me in its wrath⁸;

But this I know--God watches all my path,

And I can trust.

"I may not draw aside the mystic veil

That hides the unknown future from my sight,

Nor know if for me waits the dark or light;

But I can trust.

"I have no power to look across the tide,

To see while here the land beyond the river;

But this I know--I shall be God’s forever;

So I can trust."

　 五月十五日

　　“现在有云遮蔽，人不得见穹苍的光亮”（伯三十七：21）。

　　云彩点缀了世界的美丽，天上如果永远蔚蓝一片，缺少了变幻多端的云彩的美景。地球也会失去常态，变成一片单调。人生也时有云彩罩上来，有时阴暗，有时灿烂宜人，有时漆黑如夜；但任何一种云，都有它的光明面，所谓“我把虹放在云彩中。”（创9：13）

　　如果我们能从另一方向去观察，这些云彩静伏如波涛，高耸如阿尔卑斯山的峰峦，浴于它们所遮断的光明中，我们将惊叹它们的灿烂与美丽。

　　我们在地上抬头看见的是它向下的一面，谁能从整个的空间，居于云端之上，给我们描述那照耀着云锋，云谷的光明呢？次之，每一滴使生命滋长的水分，亦不是云给我们带来的吗？

　　神的孩子啊，使你痛心的遭遇，使你流泪的难处，都是你灵程中的乌云。你若从地上望上去，果然是又黑又暗；可是你若从与基督同坐的天上望下来，如果你因此知道了它们在天堂的美景与基督满面春风的笑貌之前，如何反映出五光十色，彩虹一般的美丽，那么它们虽在你人生的旅程中投下阴影，你也会欣然领会，不再沮丧了。你只要知道，在神的清风之前，云彩永远是在来来去去的。

我不知为什么大风暴，

突然围着我狂吼怒啸,

但我知，神一路照顾我,

因此我能信靠。

我也许没有办法除掉,

遮掩未来的神秘幕罩,

不知道前面是黑暗或光明,

但是我能信靠。

我的视力不能透过浪潮,

看不见彼岸的乡郊,

但我知我永远属于神，

我的信绝不动摇。

1 compensates   

补偿，报酬( compensate的第三人称单数 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The company compensates her for extra work. 公司因她的额外工作而给她报酬。
• A vertical spring compensates for the weight of the sensing element. 用一根垂直弹簧补偿敏感元件的负荷。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 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。

4 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

5 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

6 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。

7 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

8 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。