July 3

"Doth the plowman plow¹ all day to sow?"(Isa. 28:24)

One day in early summer I walked past a beautiful meadow. The grass was as soft and thick and fine as an immense green Oriental rug. In one corner stood a fine old tree, a sanctuary² for numberless wild birds; the crisp, sweet air was full of their happy songs. Two cows lay in the shade, the very picture of content.Down by the roadside the saucy³ dandelion mingled⁴ his gold with the royal purple of the wild violet.

I leaned against the fence for a long time, feasting my hungry eyes, and thinking in my soul that God never made a fairer spot than my lovely meadow.

The next day I passed that way again, and lo! the hand of the despoiler⁵ had been there. A plowman and his great plow, now standing⁶ idle in the furrow⁷, had in a day wrought⁸ a terrible havoc⁹. Instead of the green grass there was turned up to view the ugly, bare, brown earth; instead of the singing birds there were only a few hens industriously¹⁰ scratching for worms. Gone were the dandelion and the pretty violet. I said in my grief, "How could any one spoil a thing so fair?"

Then my eyes were opened by some unseen hand, and I saw a vision, a vision of a field of ripe corn ready for the harvest. I could see the giant, heavily laden¹¹ stalks in the autumn sun; I could almost hear the music of the wind as it would sweep across the golden tassels¹². And before I was aware, the brown earth took on a splendor¹³ it had not had the day before.

Oh, that we might always catch the vision of an abundant harvest, when the great Master Plowman comes, as He often does, and furrows¹⁴ through our very souls, uprooting¹⁵ and turning under that which we thought most fair, and leaving for our tortured gaze only the bare and the unbeautiful. ━Selected

Why should I start at the plough of my Lord, that maketh the deep furrows on my soul? I know He is no idle husbandman, He purposeth a crop. ━Samuel Rutherford

七月三日

“那耕地为要撒种的岂是常常耕地呢？”（赛廿八：24）

一天初夏，我走过一块美丽的草场。上面的青草非常柔软，浓厚，纯粹，真像一块东方的绿色大地毯。草场的一隅栽着一棵佳美的古树，树上停着无数美丽的野鸟；晴爽的空中充满了牠们悦耳的歌声。两只母牛躺卧在凉爽的树荫下，表现出洋洋得意的样子来。路旁种着黄色的蒲公英，蒲公英中间，又夹着紫色的紫罗兰。

我倚着竹篱呆望了好久，尽量饱享了一顿眼福，心中想着：神所造的宇宙中，没有一处能比这里更美丽更可爱了。

第二天我又走过那条路，看啊！那幅美丽的图画全被拆毁了。一个农夫扶着铁犁，站在畦间，在一天之内造成了这一个大破坏！绿色的青草没有了，留着的祇是一片丑陋，光秃的黄土；歌唱的野鸟不见了，却换来了几只抓土啄虫的老母鸡。路旁的蒲公英，美丽的紫罗兰，一概都不见了。我忧忧愁愁地自语道：“这样美丽的东西，也有人忍心损害吗？”

那时全能者的手打开了我的眼睛，叫我看见已熟的禾稼等待人去收割。我能彀看见巨大迟笨的草人巍立在日光之下；我能彀听见秋风掠过麦穗的响声。那时我就觉悟到：若不经过那块丑陋光秃的黄土，就得不到收割禾稼的光荣。

亲爱的读者，我们的神是我们心田的农夫，祂常常来耕垦我们的心田，将我们自以为最美丽的东西拔去，留给们一个光秃秃不美丽的光景；我们应当忍着暂时的痛楚，仰望前面收获的丰富。━选

我们为什么要对主的犁头惊诧呢？祂深深耕耘着我们的灵魂？我知道祂不是无目的农夫，祂瞻望着丰富的收获。━陆瑟福

1 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

2 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

3 saucy   

adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的

参考例句：

• He was saucy and mischievous when he was working.他工作时总爱调皮捣蛋。
• It was saucy of you to contradict your father.你顶撞父亲，真是无礼。

4 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

5 despoiler   

参考例句：

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 furrow   

n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹

参考例句：

• The tractor has make deep furrow in the loose sand.拖拉机在松软的沙土上留下了深深的车辙。
• Mei did not weep.She only bit her lips,and the furrow in her brow deepened.梅埋下头，她咬了咬嘴唇皮，额上的皱纹显得更深了。

8 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。

9 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

10 industriously   

参考例句：

• She paces the whole class in studying English industriously. 她在刻苦学习英语上给全班同学树立了榜样。
• He industriously engages in unostentatious hard work. 他勤勤恳恳，埋头苦干。

11 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

12 tassels   

n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰

参考例句：

• Tassels and Trimmings, Pillows, Wall Hangings, Table Runners, Bell. 采购产品垂饰，枕头，壁挂，表亚军，钟。 来自互联网
• Cotton Fabrics, Embroidery and Embroiders, Silk, Silk Fabric, Pillows, Tassels and Trimmings. 采购产品棉花织物，刺绣品而且刺绣，丝，丝织物，枕头，流行和装饰品。 来自互联网

13 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

14 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

15 uprooting   

n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• He is hard at work uprooting wild grass in the field. 他正在田里辛苦地芟夷呢。 来自互联网
• A storm raged through the village, uprooting trees and flattening crops. 暴风雨袭击了村庄，拔起了树木，吹倒了庄稼。 来自互联网