August 9

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. . .who passing through the valley of weeping, make it a well" (Ps. 84:5, 6).

Comfort does not come to the light-hearted and merry. We must go down into "depths" if we would experience this most precious of God's gifts—comfort, and thus be prepared to be co-workers together with Him.

When night━needful night━gathers over the garden of our souls, when the leaves close up, and the flowers no longer hold any sunlight within their folded petals¹, there shall never be wanting, even in the thickest darkness, drops of heavenly dew--dew which falls only when the sun has gone. –Selected

“I have been through the valley of weeping,

The valley of sorrow and pain;

But the ‘ God of all comfort ’ was with me,

At hand to uphold and sustain.”

"As the earth needs the clouds and sunshine,

Our souls need both sorrow and joy

So He places us oft in the furnace,

The dross² from the gold to destroy.”

“When he leads thro'some valley of trouble,

His omnipotent³ hand we trace;

For the trials and sorrows He sends us,

Are part of His lessons in grace.”

“Oft we shrink from the purging⁴ and pruning⁵,

Forgetting the Husbandman knows

That the deeper the cutting and paring,

The richer the cluster that grows”.

“Well He knows that affliction is needed;

He has ct wise purpose in view,

And in the dark valley He whispers,

'Hereafter Thou 'It know what I do.”

“As We travel thro ' life's shadow 'd valley,

Fresh springs of His love ever rise;

And we learn that our sorrows and losses,

Are blessings⁶ just sent in disguise.”

“So we'll follow; wherever He leadeth,

Let the path be dreary⁷ or bright;

For we've proved that our God can give comfort;

Our God can give songs in the night.”

八月九日

「靠祢有力量….的，这人便为有福。他们经过流泪谷，叫这谷变为泉源之地。」（诗八十四5-6）

快乐欢欣的人，不能知道安慰的甜蜜。如果我们想得到神最贵重的礼物━安慰━我们必须进入「深处」与神合作。

大地怎样需要黑云与日光，我们也同样需要悲伤与欢乐。──选

1 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 dross   

n.渣滓；无用之物

参考例句：

• Caroline felt the value of the true ore,and knew the deception of the flashy dross.卡罗琳辨别出了真金的价值，知道那种炫耀的铁渣只有迷惑人的外表。
• The best players go off to the big clubs,leaving us the dross.最好的队员都投奔大俱乐部去了，就只给我们剩下些不中用的人。

3 omnipotent   

adj.全能的，万能的

参考例句：

• When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science.我们达到万能以后就不需要科学了。
• Money is not omnipotent,but we can't survive without money.金钱不是万能的，但是没有金钱我们却无法生存。

4 purging   

清洗； 清除； 净化； 洗炉

参考例句：

• You learned the dry-mouthed, fear-purged, purging ecstasy of battle. 你体会到战斗中那种使人嘴巴发干的，战胜了恐惧并排除其他杂念的狂喜。
• Purging databases, configuring, and making other exceptional requests might fall into this category. 比如清空数据库、配置，以及其他特别的请求等都属于这个类别。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 pruning   

n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• In writing an essay one must do a lot of pruning. 写文章要下一番剪裁的工夫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A sapling needs pruning, a child discipline. 小树要砍，小孩要管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。