October 30

"Let us run with patience" (Heb. 12:1)

O run with patience is a very difficult thing. Running is apt to suggest the absence of patience, the eagerness to reach the goal. We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid¹. Yet, I do not think the invalid's patience the hardest to achieve.

There is a patience which I believe to be harder--the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse² fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish³ in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing!

Many of us would nurse our grief without crying if we were allowed to nurse it. The hard thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in bed, but in the street. We are called to bury our sorrows, not in lethargic⁴ quiescence⁵, but in active service━in the exchange, in the workshop, in the hour of social intercourse⁶, in the contribution to another's joy. There is no burial of sorrow so difficult as that; it is the "running with patience."

This was Thy patience, O Son of man! It was at once a waiting and a running--a waiting for the goal, and a doing of the lesser⁷ work meantime. I see Thee at Cana turning the water into wine lest the marriage feast should be clouded. I see Thee in the desert feeding a multitude with bread just to relieve a temporary want. All, all the time, Thou wert bearing a mighty⁸ grief, unshared, unspoken. Men ask for a rainbow in the cloud; but I would ask more from Thee. I would be, in my cloud, myself a rainbow--a minister to others' joy. My patience will be perfect when it can work in the vineyard. ━George Matheson

"When all our hopes are gone,

'Tis well our hands must keep toiling⁹ on

For others ' sake:

For strength to bear is found in duty done;

And he is best indeed who learns to make

The joy of others cure his own heartache. "

十月三十日

「……存心忍耐，奔……」 （来十二:1）

「…..存心忍耐，奔……」是一件非常困难的事情。「奔」的时候，常是缺乏「忍耐」的时候；因为「奔」的时候，常是急急想达到目的的时候。我们平常说起「忍耐」，立刻就会联想到「静止」━一幕天使守护病榻的图画。然而我以为静止的忍耐，并不是最难做到的忍耐。

我相信有一种忍耐，更难做到━就是那同时能「奔」的忍耐。固然，在悲伤的时候不动，在不幸的时候不言，需要极大的忍耐；可是我知道一件事，需要更大的忍耐：就是在袭击之下继续工作━心中负着重压，仍不停止往前「奔」；灵里深感痛苦，仍然勉力尽职。这纔是基督的忍耐！

许多时候，神要我们学习忍耐，不是在床上，乃是在街上。神要我们埋葬我们的悲哀，不是在寂静中，乃是在活动中━在贸易中、在工场中、在交际的时候、在帮助别人的时候。没有一种埋葬比这种埋葬更难；可是这就是所谓 「……存心忍耐，奔……」

哦，人子阿，这就是祢的忍耐！这就是又等又奔的忍耐！虽然祢没有一刻不背负着极大的忧伤，可是我看见祢仍在迦拿变水为酒，在野地变饼济众。人们都向祢求云中虹；我要向祢求更大的：求祢叫我作一条云中的虹━一条叫别人喜乐的虹！━马德胜

当我们丧失了一切希望，

最好继续为别人操劳，

助人能获得更大更坚强的力量，

最聪明的人必能懂得，

以别人的快乐，医治自己的悲伤。

1 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

2 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

3 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

4 lethargic   

adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的

参考例句：

• He felt too miserable and lethargic to get dressed.他心情低落无精打采，完全没有心思穿衣整装。
• The hot weather made me feel lethargic.炎热的天气使我昏昏欲睡。

5 quiescence   

n.静止

参考例句：

• The Eurasian seismic belt still remained in quiescence. 亚欧带仍保持平静。 来自互联网
• Only I know is that it is in quiescence, including the instant moment. 我只知道，它凝固了，包括瞬间。 来自互联网

6 intercourse   

n.性交；交流，交往，交际

参考例句：

• The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
• There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。

7 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

8 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

9 toiling   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
• She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎，心中涌满愤恨。