“ 我要向山举目。我的帮助从何而来。我的帮助从造天地的耶和华而来。” 诗篇121:1-2
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2
那原是一般旅客只需6个小时就能完成的路程。但在异域的草木中经过步履蹒跚的12小时后,我竟饥寒交迫地伫立在原本应是很浪漫的东非星空下,而一股彷徨无措的感觉不由自主地从心底升起。在抵达终点-那使我能得安息的地方-之前却还得攀上一道45度的斜坡。我想在搬运工人眼中的应是一具脆弱的躯体,而这躯体中经已不存丝毫精力。向导与搬运工人从没有在漆黑的情况下走过这段路。本来在这时刻,他们应是在围炉夜话,喝着他们的肯雅茶。
It was a journey that usually required 6 hours for the average travelers. I found myself disoriented, cold and hungry, under the otherwise romantic night sky of East Africa, after 12 hours of stumbling along the alien vegetation. It had to be another 45 degree sharp ascent before I could hit my destination, the place where I could find my rest. I could muster no strength in what must have been a frail frame in the eyes of my porters and guide. The porters and guide never before attempted this phase of the journey in almost pitch dark conditions. They should have been sitting around a stove and sipping their Kenyan tea by then.
当我疲惫地挨在那崎岖上行山道旁的硬石上时,“我会在此死去吗?这地方夜里会有危险的动物徘徊吗?”等一连串问题正添加着那无助的感觉。我雇佣的两个搬运工人尝试协助我,半提半拖地扶着我走。然而普顿营地仍如在永恒之外。奇怪的,“父阿,我将我的灵魂交在你手里。”是我所唯一能记起的经节。然后永恒就来临了... 如果史普顿营地真要是天堂的话。
"Would I die here? Will there be dangerous animals that roam this area at night?" were questions that added to the sense of helplessness as I laid my weary back against the hard rock by the crooked, upward leading foot path. My 2 porters tried to help me along, half carrying and half dragging. Shipton Camp still seemed to be an eternity away. "Into your hands, I lay my spirit" strangely was the only verse that came to mind. And then eternity came... if only Shipton was heaven.
体能准备不足加上不适应高原气候不但剥夺了我首次攀爬4000米高峰的欣荣,也差点使我魂断异乡。我过后才了解当真曾有野心超逾本身能力的攀山者死于体温过低。
Inadequate physical preparation and poor acclimatization not only denied me the joy of conquering my first four-thousander (mountains above 4,000m), they almost claimed my life. I understood later that there were indeed trekkers, whose ambition exceeded their capacity, which died of hypothermia.
从此,诗篇121:1-2 就在我生命中有了崭新的个人意义。每次当我看到山峰的图象,我就忆起那除造天地的 耶和华之外,还能有谁的境况。
Since then Psalm 121:1-2 took on a new and personal meaning for me. Whenever I look at any pictures of mountains, I will remember the occasion when no human beings mattered except the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
我想基督徒的生活对我来说也同样布满危机,独自一人是无法完成前头的路程的。单是透彻了解上帝的法规不足以达到神崇高的道德标准,唯有灵里的修养可行。当没人喝采时,要孜孜不倦。当奖赏遥不可及时,仍坚持到底。当嘲声四起时,得百折不挠。还须抵抗掏钱袋中饱私囊的诱惑和不凭一吻将我的主卖与敌人。除对主的信心之外,我毫无自信。除对主的爱心之外,我毫无动机。想是因此主在十诫上又添加了一道新的命令:“我赐给你们一条新命令,乃是叫你们彼此相爱。我怎样爱你们,你们要怎样相爱。”(约翰福音13:34)。当他的法则有如戒令加注在我身上时,他的生命进入我的生命,以圣灵的感动给予我持守那戒令的力量。唯有如此,他的轭才能够容易。
I suppose Christian life can be as treacherous for me and there is no way I could last the race on my own. The high altitude of moral standards would require a character rather than a mere comprehension of the code. Sticking to it when no one cheers, insisting on it when there is no imminent reward, picking myself up despite the jeers, resisting the temptation to take from the money bag and not kissing my Lord over to His enemy. I have no confidence apart from faith in the Lord. I have no motivation apart from love for the Lord. Think that was why the Lord added a new command to the Ten Commandments. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you..." (John 13:34; emphasis mine). While His law lays upon me an injunction, His life entering into my life inpires me to live up to that injunction. Only then, could His yoke be easy.
“我爱祢主。诚心所愿。”
"I love You, Lord. Amen."