2024年8月4日 牧者之言

超越眼见的视野

那是真光,照亮一切生在世上的人 – 约翰福音 1:9

我们每年都会在自家的地盘边缘露营,地盘与邻居的树林接壤。我抱着三岁的孙女,指着月亮对她说:“看月亮在树丛间偷看我们。”过了一会儿,我听到她爸爸安慰她说没什么好怕的——没有意识到,爷爷是她害怕的罪魁祸首。但她一直坚持说有东西在树丛间偷看我们。

我们需要谨慎使用比喻性语言,尤其是对小孩子,因为它可能会产生误解。当然,很容易看出这个小事幽默的一面,但对于一个相信爷爷、从未考虑过月亮可能在偷看她的小女孩来说,这并不好笑。然而,没有造成任何伤害,一个解释解决了这个问题。

这件事让我想起了耶稣引用的以赛亚的预言。“你们听是要听见,却不明白;看是要看见,却不晓得”(马太福音 13:14)。耶稣用比喻来教导许多事情,除非我们理解它们的意义并正确应用它们,否则它们对我们来说就没有什么价值。今天的圣经阅读就是一个很好的例子。

我们的理解力应该更进一步。我们能否超越我们自己的自然视角,感知到上帝透过我们的情况所发出的光芒?保罗写道:“那吩咐光从黑暗里照出来的神,已经照在我们心里”(哥林多后书 4:6)。我们需要那神圣的光芒充分照耀;否则,我们就会像我的小孙女一样,因为她只看到了字面意义上的东西便感到害怕。

梅尔文·布鲁贝克——宾夕法尼亚州特雷弗顿港

凭借信心的眼睛,灵魂可以看到许多对于肉眼来说完全隐藏的东西

—— 译自《溪水边》第九, 阿米什人灵修

   A View Beyond the Visible


That was the true light, which lightenth every man that cometh into the world. -John 1:9
We were having our annual family camp-out at the edge of our property, which borders our neighbor’s woods. While holding our three-year-old granddaughter, I pointed out the moon to her and said, “Look how the moon is peeking at us through the trees.” A little later I heard her dad reassuring her that there was nothing to be afraid of— not realizing that Grandpa was to blame for her fear. But she kept insisting that something was peeking at us through the trees.
We need to be careful about figurative language, especially with little ones, because of the misunderstanding it can generate. Of course, it was easy to see the humorous side of this little happening, but it wasn’t funny to a small girl who believed Grandpa and had never considered that the moon might be peeking at her. Yet no harm was done, and an explanation settled the issue.
This incident reminded me of the prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus quoted. “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive” (Matthew 13: 14). Jesus used parables to teach many things, and unless we understand their figurative meaning and apply them correctly, they hold little value for us. Today’s Bible reading has a good example.
Our comprehension should go even further. Can we see beyond our own natural view and perceive the light from God that is peeking through our circumstances? Paul wrote, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 4: 6). We need that divine light to shine through abundantly; otherwise, we will be like our little granddaughter who feared because she saw things only in a literal sense.
                      

Melvin Brubaker – Port Treverton, PA
With eyes of faith, the soul can see many things that are completely hidden to the natural eyes.

Cited from Day 9, Beside the Still Water, Amish Devotion.

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