Tomorrow
Adapted from Growing Strong In The Seasons Of Life, P257-258) by Charles R. Swindall.
Translated to Chinese by FKL, September 2016.
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明天 (翻譯：盧國禮)
我正在駕車去 Forest Home，怡然地聽著播音器悠揚的音樂，靜靜地駕駛在閒憩的星期日下午，那時，我察覺前頭有事件發生。尚未知道發生了甚麼事，心中有一念，非尋常。
看見了，是一輛反轉了的汽車。隨尾的救護車響著號。感覺好像有人把拳頭擠向我的小腹上。有位交通督導員，敏捷地指導著趴行的車隊避開意外現場。我走近了，看見一輛車倒臥在破碎的車骸當中。此情景在我腦海中徘徊。旁人目瞪口呆. . . 有兩個人把傷者從廢鐵中拖到路旁，所有乘客皆死亡，或被恐怖肢解。
如此溫暖憩靜的星期日，天朗氣清，時光充滿休閒，但這三位人士，霎時間，他們的世界翻倒了，橫屍於瘋癲之境況中。本來好像是一個享樂的日子，卻成為厭惡的災難。直覺地想，受難者是否認識我們的主 [耶穌]，而可在永恆裏帶著微笑。
我的脈搏提昇，因此雙手緊緊握著呔盤，喘著氣，喃喃自語地唸著箴言二十七章第一節：
不要為明日自誇，因為一日要生何事，
你尚且不能知道。
雅各書四章：13-14 節肯定也包含上開箴言的意念。我大聲唱出多遍；當時交通又回復速度，草率地衝擊著整個下午。
嗐！你們有話說：“今天明天我們要往某城裏去，在那裏住一年作買賣得利。”其實明天如何，你們還不知道。你們的生命是甚麼呢？你們原來是一片雲霞，出現少時就不見了。
請坐下來片刻吧。在你的居所找一角落，靜下來六十秒，想想兩段話：“. . . 明天的生命如何，你們還不知道 . . .”及“你們不能知道每日要生何事。”
人類的知識似乎深湛：我們能分裂原子，建築摩天大廈，移植腎臟，寫電腦程式，探索外太空，並解決生態問題。但有關明天的事，我們的知識即跌到零。無論你是誰，你可能是耶魯大學的博士，你可能是某行業的奇才，智商 (IQ) 超越 170，有奇異天份，完全能夠掌握專門高科技–但是你們單單不能知道明天要生何事。科學家可能籌劃、計算、預測、歸納、演譯及繪畫圖案來表示有關未來。他們仍是只在推想。用代數學代入說，明天是個因數 X. . . 它是個奧秘：它無可解釋，它無可奉告，它隱藏在 神裏不可測度的深處和難了解纏結的計劃，祂延緩了除去面紗，直至老地球再見曙光，然後霎時顯露一次。
明天，它可能帶來疾病、哀傷或災難。它可給你祈禱已久的答覆。它可引導你進入豐盛生命和友誼的開始，有尚選的機會得享受面對你的主. . . 或又是廿四小時的等候和信靠，及呼求祂的同在。此時刻可能未來到！神便可揀選干預，把你帶回家去–死亡或被提。我們可作忖測，惶恐異常，或夢想–但我們不可知道。
此類思潮會引申出一個無可避免的問題：
你準備好嗎？
“準備甚麼？” 你可會問。
“凡事準備” 便是我的答覆。你的信和倚靠的心是否足夠穩妥支持你處於任何境況？
不要忘記，約伯滑下如雪崩。假如我們的主 [耶穌] 想你作約伯，你還以祂為你的“珍寶”及你的“得勝”嗎？
不要太輕易隨意作答。試想想，該問題對你的生命、健康、工作及家庭，有何隱含之義？
假如你的主 [耶穌] 想你作以諾，你會否不願意走上那永恆的旅程？
感謝 神，是祂的愛將我們明天的事作安排. . . 而我們可肯定，無論甚麼事，祂的愛都臨在我們中間。所以，每讀到羅馬書11章33節，我便會心微笑。讓這經文帶來給你的世界一個微笑。(翻譯：盧國禮)
深哉！神豐富的智慧和知識。祂的判斷何其難測！祂的蹤跡何其難尋！(和合本)
(完)
<明天> 讀後感 Reflections on “Tomorrow”
(Translated to English by FKL)
Every month we used to pay a visit to the shopping mall in the western district. But approximately a year ago we’ve stopped doing that. Once a month we visited the family doctor, who had an attentive and caring heart. My wife and I myself had been in his care for more than 10 years. He also was the chair of a stem cells association, contributing tremendously in the researches of stem cells study. Unfortunately, one week-end in November last year, he died instantly in the car accident. The other car approaching dashed through the red light and hit him heavily by the side. He departed from there and then! Who would know? Life is un-fathomable! Only feeling helplessness! Who governs to-morrow?
西區一大型商場是我們每個月必到一次的，但是約一年前，開始沒這樣做了。因為我們每月一次去看家庭醫生，他是一位細心、關懷人的好醫生，照顧了太太和我十多年；他也是幹細胞協會主席，對幹細胞研究供獻良多。不幸，去年十一月的一個週末，因車禍即時身亡。他的車被衝紅燈的一輛車橫腰重撞，即時離世。誰可預料。人生無常！只覺無奈！誰掌管明天？
Habitually, every month after our visit to the family doctor, we would enjoyed lunch in the western style restaurant—an experience at leisure. Earlier on, with a nostalgic mood, we revisited that shopping mall, wandering aimlessly into the super-market. We saw the fish stall. In the tank, there were three or four Tilapias swimming to and fro, one of which was pink in color. My wife hinted to me that the pink Tilapia was better to eat than the black one. The fishmonger immediately used a hand net, brought it up and with a wooden rod struck a blow on its head, put it on the scale, ended its life and carefully had it wrapped and handed it over to me. While walking towards the till, I reflected that then it was swimming. What has happened to it? Helplessness!
本來，每月看家庭醫生後，我們都到那西餐廳享用午膳，是一種生活的享受。前陣子，帶著懷念的心情，重訪那商場，沒想到走進那超級市場，看見賣魚的攤檔，池缸中有三四條鯽魚，游來游去，其中一條是粉紅色的。太太示意牠比黑色的鯽魚較好吃。賣魚的售貨員用手網即時把牠撈起，用木棒重擊牠的頭一下，便放在磅上，再把牠的生命結束，仔細地包裝給我。走向櫃檯的我，正反思著，剛才牠還在水裏游，如今牠如何？無奈！
Life in humanity is like that–helplessness? Emptiness? To live is to wait for the final departure?
We are afraid. We fear death; we are chasing after abundance, a good family, a present job–trouble-free passing each day–hoping for no sickness till death. Some other people think death is just like snuffing an oil lamp–so drink your wine to drunkenness just for to-day.
人生就是那麼無奈嗎？那麼虛空嗎？活著就是等候死亡的來臨嗎？我們恐懼，我們怕死；我們追求生活豐富，有美好的家庭，合意的工作，無憂愁的過每一天，期望無疾而終；又有人以為人死如燈滅，只好今天有酒今天醉吧。
If we are willing to contemplate in-depth, has not God created human beings and place them in the Garden of Eden? (Genesis Chapter 2). We in our hearts desiring for beauty and goodness is a reflection of the original cause. Because human is from God, who is perfect in beauty and goodness. So desires for beauty and goodness are our natural thoughts. If there were no cause, the human race will not have much an effect on thoughts. The ultimate ideal goal for humanity: To return to the Garden of Eden to enjoy eternal life in the presence of God.
若我們肯進深的默觀，神不是創造了人類，然後把他們放在伊甸園嗎？(創世記第二章)。我們心中有渴求美善，這正反影出原始的因由，因為人是從 神來的，神是美善的完全，人類渴求美善是我們自然的思念。若是沒有來歷，人怎會有這樣的思維。人類最終的理想是回到伊甸園去，享受與 神同在的永恆生命。
We pray for the coming of the kingdom of God; we wish the will of God will be done on earth as if in Heaven. (The Lord’s Prayer). Jesus said that the kingdom of God was in our hearts. In other words, the kingdom of God through the regeneration of the hearts of the disciples would reflect the heart of Christ in their beings at that time. Waiting for His promised return date, all Christ-followers—their spirits, souls, and bodies—must be blameless in front of the last judgement of our Lord.
Jesus says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mathew 11:28). When we have God, Lord Jesus, in our hearts, we will have peace from heaven.
(Francis Loo)
我們禱告求天國降臨，願 神的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上 (主禱文)。耶穌說：天國在我們的心中。換言之，神的國度–天國–可透過門徒的心意更新，以基督的心為心，付諸行動，把 神的心意活在當下。等候主應許祂的再來之日，好叫門徒凡跟從耶穌基督的，靈與魂與身子，在主作最後審判時，無可指責。
耶穌說：“凡勞苦擔重擔的人，可以到我這裏來，我就使你們得安息”(馬太福音11章28節)，當我們心中有 神–主耶穌–心中便有從天上而來的平安。
Therefore, “Remember Your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 12:1a). Amen.
所以，“你趁著年幼，衰敗的日子尚未來到–就是你所說‘我毫無喜樂’的那些年日–未曾臨近之先，當記念造你的主”(傳道書12章1a節)。啊們！ (作者：盧國禮)
(完)
Tomorrow
Adapted from Growing Strong In The Seasons Of Life (P157-158) by Charles R. Swindle.
I was driving up to Forest Home with easy listening music crooning through the speakers. A quiet drive on a mellow Sunday afternoon. Then I saw something up ahead. Before I realized what it was, it flashed in my mind as something terrible wrong—out of place—distorted.
An overturned car—I could see it now. An ambulance screamed somewhere back. I felt like someone had pushed a fist into my stomach. Directing traffic around the accident, a highway patrolman briskly motioned on the crawling line of cars. I got too close of a look at the vehicle resting on the crumpled top. The scene hangs in my mind . . . the bystanders staring in open-mouthed disbelief . . . two men dragging limp bodies out of the wreckage onto the pavement. All of the passengers were either dead or terribly mutilated.
Such a warm, peaceful Sunday. The day was bright and filled with leisure hours. But for three people, that moment the world flipped—violently, crazily, fatally—upon down. What appeared to be another day of “fun-‘n’-games” became a day of infamous calamity. Naturally, I wondered if those victims knew our Lord—if they could smile at eternity. My pulse shot up so that I had to grip the wheel with both hands. Under my breath, I mumbled Proverbs 27:1:
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you
do not know what a day may bring forth.
James 4:13-14 was certainly written with that particular proverb in mind. I said it out loud—several times—as the traffic resumed speed and scattered heedless across the afternoon.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we shall
Go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage
In business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know
What your life will be like tomorrow. You are just vapor
That appears for a little while and the vanished away.
Sit down for a moment, please. Find a quiet spot in your dwelling, just for sixty seconds. Think—just about the two statements: “. . . you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. . .” and “. . . you do not know what a day may bring forth.”
Man’s knowledge seems impressive—awesome. We can split atoms, we can build skyscrapers, transplant kidneys, program computers, exploring and explain outer space, and even unknot the problems of ecology. But when it comes tomorrow, our knowledge plunges to zero. Whoever you are. You may be a Ph. D. from Yale, you may be a genius in your field with an I.Q. above 170, marvellously gifted and totally capable in any number of advanced, technological specialties—but you simply do not know what will bring. Scientists may project, program, predict, deduct, deduce, and compute programs about the future. They’re still only guessing. In algebraic terms, tomorrow remains factor X . . . a mystery. It cannot be explained. It defies all attempts to be exposed. It lies hidden in the depths of God’s unfathomable, intricately interwoven plan. He has not been pleased to unveil it until this old earth spins sufficiently to see the dawn. And then . . . only one moment at a time.
Tomorrow. It may bring sickness, sorrow, or tragedy. It may announce an answer to your waiting prayer. It may introduce you to prosperity, the beginning of a friendship, a choice opportunity for sharing your Lord . . . or just another twenty-four hours of waiting, trusting, and claiming His presence. It may not even come! God may choose this very day to intervene and take you Home—either by death or by Rapture. We can speculate, we can dread, we can dream—but we do not know.
This sort of thinking leads to an inevitable question: Are you ready? “Ready for what?” you may ask. “ for anything” is my answer. Is your trust, your attitude of dependence sufficiently stable to sustain you regardless? Remember Job’s avalanche? Should your Lord be pleased to turn you into a Job, would He still be your Treasure and your Triumph? Don’t let the answer slip off your tongue too easily. Think about the implications of that question to your own life, health, job, and family. Should your Lord make you an Enoch, would you be reluctant to make that eternal journey?
Thank the Lord, it is His love that arranges our tomorrows . . . and we may be certain that whatever it brings. His love sent it our way. That is why I smile every time I read Romans 11:33. Let it bring a smile into your world. (Swindoll)
Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are His
wisdom and knowledge and riches! How impossible it is
for us to understand His decisions and His methods! (TLB).
. . . End. . .
attitudinalhealing 