The autumn of Beijing

the autumn of Beijing

It's very windy.

Pruning

(By Hugh B. Brown)
In the early dawn, a young gardener was pruning his trees and shrubs. He had one choice currant bush which had gone too much to wood. He feared therefore that it would produce little, if any, fruit.
Accordingly, he trimmed and pruned the bush and cut it back. In fact, when he had finished, there was little left but stumps and roots.
Tenderly he considered what was left. It looked so sad and deeply hurt. On every stump there seemed to be a tear where the pruning knife had cut away the growth of early spring. The poor bush seemed to speak to him, and he thought he heard it say:
"O, how could you be so cruel to me; you who claim to be my friend, who planted me and cared for me when I was young, and nurtured me and encouraged me to grow? Could you not see that I was rapidly responding to your care? I was nearly half as large as the trees across the fence, and might soon have become like one of them. But now you've cut my branches back; the green, attractive leaves are gone, and I am in disgrace among my fellows."
The young gardener looked at the weeping bush and heard it's plea with sympathetic understanding. His voice was full of kindness as he said, "Do not cry; what I have done to you was necessary that you might be a prize currant bush in my garden. You were not intended to give shade or shelter by your branches. My purpose when I planted you was that you should bear fruit. When I want currants, a tree, regardless of it's size, cannot supply the need."
"No, my little currant bush, if I had allowed you to continue to grow as you had started, all your strength would have gone to wood; your roots would not have gained a firm hold, and the purpose for which I brought you into my garden would have been defeated. Your place would have been taken by another, for you would have been barren. You must not weep; all this will be for your good; and some day, when you see more clearly, when you are richly laden with luscious fruit, you will thank me and say, `Surely, he was a wise and loving gardener. He knew the purpose of my being, and I thank him now for what I then thought was cruelty.'"
Some years later, this young gardener was in a foreign land, and he himself was growing. He was proud of his position and ambitious for the future.
One day an unexpected vacancy entitled him to promotion. The goal to which he had aspired was now almost within his grasp, and he was proud of the rapid growth which he was making.
But for some reason unknown to him, another was appointed in his stead, and he was asked to take another post relatively unimportant and which, under the circumstances, caused his friends to feel that he had failed.
The young man staggered to his tent and knelt beside his cot and wept. He now knew that he could never hope to have what he had thought so desirable. He cried to God and said, "Oh, how could you be so cruel to me? You who claim to be my friend - you who brought me here and nurtured and encouraged me to grow. Could you not see that I was almost equal to the other men whom I have so long admired? But now I have been cut down. I am in disgrace among my fellows. Oh, how could you do this to me?"
He was humiliated and chagrinned and a drop of bitterness was in his heart, when he seemed to hear an echo from the past. Where had he heard those words before? They seemed familiar. Memory whispered:
"I'm the gardener here."
He caught his breath. Ah, that was it - the currant bush! But why should that long-forgotten incident come to him in the midst of his hour of tragedy? And memory answered with words which he himself had spoken;
"Do not cry ... what I have done to you was necessary ... you were not intended for what you sought to be, ... if I had allowed you to continue ... you would have failed in the purpose for which I planted you and my plans for you would have been defeated. You must not weep; some day when you are richly laden with experience you will say, `He was a wise gardener.s He knew the purpose of my earth life, ... I thank him now for what I thought was cruel.'" 

步入婚姻

2005年4月29日，我和爱人来到民政局，办理了结婚手续。2005年10月22日，在庄严神圣的基督徒婚礼之后，我告别了单身生活，
步入婚姻
婚姻是什么？几个月前，我们两个人从来也没有想过。在婚姻中，如何做一名丈夫，将来做一位父亲，做一个家庭的头？我也从来没有去想。总觉得那是很遥远的事情，以后的事情以后再说。
但是，很多事情是人所不能想到的，不能掌控的。遥远的事情可以变得近到眼前。不可能发生的事情也可以发生。到目前，2005年发生了两件大事：一是我和爱人都成了基督徒；二是我和爱人结了婚，成为一生一世的夫妻。
这两件事情在我们的生命中都极为重要，一是让我们理解了生命，一是让我们认识了婚姻，立下婚姻的盟约，共同陪伴，彼此相爱，度过这人世间的日子。
什么是婚姻？
婚姻是个约。约是什么？我以前的的理解就是约定，婚约就是你我约定共同过着一辈子。这个约受一定限制，可能是你我的道德，你我的感觉。“君子一言，驷马难追”，但是环境变了（人们很容易把很多事情归于环境，也就是自己以外的，似乎不为自己所影响的东西），驷马难追也要追，宁可不做君子。一旦感觉没有了，就可以分道扬镳。正如我和爱人结婚登记那天遇到的情况那样。那天，我们很早就赶到民政局，期望我们成为当天的第一号，然而我们却意外地发现，另外一对年轻人排在我们前面。正当我们失望的时候，却无意中听见他们询问离婚办公室在那里？！我们如愿的成为当天第一对登记结婚的夫妻，但我俩却为前面的那对年轻人惊讶，虽然不知道他们到底为什么离婚，但我们都萌生了一个问题：婚约就是这样不堪一击吗？

现在我可以肯定的回答：NO. 约不是那样的。
亚伯兰和神立的约场景是这样子的，亚伯兰将牛羊劈开分成两块，“日落天黑，不料有冒烟的炉，并烧着的火把，从那些肉块中经过。当那日，耶和华与亚伯兰立约……”这场景最大的特征是死亡---牲畜的流血、死亡。立约就是旧我的死亡，失去生命，新我的诞生，从这一刻起，新我存在的意义就是为约而活。生命是我最宝贵的东西，都可以为约舍去，所有其他的一切还有什么可说的呢？
婚约也是如此。
我和妻子立约不仅仅当着众人的面而且当着神的面。
你愿意她作为你的妻子，在神和众人面前宣誓，无论是在顺境还是逆境中，在健康还是病痛中，在喜乐还是在悲伤中，都爱她、忠实于她，直到你们二人一生的末了吗？
牧师的问话中那个字是容易的呢！要守这个约何其的难呢？
结婚前的一个月里，当我每天清晨坐在班车里的时候，我常常问自己：你做得到吗？你凭什么？也正是在那些日子里，我逐渐认识到了什么是约的真正含义。
圣经分为旧约和新约，英文就是：THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT。那么约的英文就是TESTAMENT，汉语的意思就是遗嘱。所以，不能轻易的立约，因为立约就是立遗嘱，将死的人才立遗嘱。立了约，就意味着从这一刻开始，我只为约而活。
当我回答“我愿意”这三个字的时候，我死去了。我放下了自己的生命，现在我在我盟约的妻子里面活出我的生命，她是我生命的表现。
在结婚典礼上，我和爱人将一首盟约献给彼此：
（羔羊）我以永远的爱爱你，我以慈爱吸引你，聘你永远归我为妻，永以慈爱诚实待你。（新妇）哦我愿夺得主的心，用我注视的眼睛，我的心如禁闭的井，新陈佳果存留为你。（羔羊）我赐你肉心代替石心，把律法写在你心里，我用水将你洗洁净，你的罪恶我全忘记。（新妇）因你鞭伤我得医治，你受刑罚我得平安，你受咒诅我得祝福，因你流血我得生命。（合） 将我放在你的心上如印记，将我带在你手臂上如戳记，你的爱情坚贞，胜过死亡，众水不能熄灭，不能淹没。 

A New Leaf

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He came to my desk with a quivering lip
The lesson was done.
"Dear Teacher, may I have a new leaf?" he said,
"I've spoiled this one."
``
I took the old leaf, stained and blotted,
And gave him a new one, all unspotted.
And into his troubled eyes I smiled,
"Do better now my child."
``
I went to the throne with a quivering soul,
The old year was done.
"Dear Master, may I have a new year?" I said,
"I have spoiled this one."
``
He took the old year, stained and blotted,
And gave me a new one all unspotted,
And into my troubled soul He smiled,
"Do better now, my child."
``
~~unknown

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