"He maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth and his hands make whole." (Job 5:18.)
The ministry of a great sorrow. AS we pass beneath the hills which have been shaken by the earthquake and torn by convulsion, we find that periods of perfect repose succeed those of destruction. The pools of calm water lie clear beneath their fallen rocks, the water lilies gleam, and the reeds whisper among the shadows; the village rises again over the forgotten graves, and its church tower, white through the storm twilight, proclaims a renewed appeal to His protection "in whose hand are all the corners of the earth, and the strength of the hills is his also." --- Ruskin.
God ploughed one day with an earthquake, And drove His furrows deep! The huddling plains upstarted, The hills were all aleap! But that is the mountains' secret, Age-hidden in their breast; "God's peace is everlasting, Are the dream-words of their rest. He made them the haunts of beauty, The home elect of His grace; He spreadeth His mornings upon them, His sunsets light their face. His winds bring messages to them─ Wild storm-news from the main; They sing it down the valleys In the love-song of the rain. They are nurseries for young rivers, Nests for His flying cloud, Homesteads for new-born races, Masterful, free, and proud. The people of tired cities Come up to their shrines and pray; God freshens again within them, As He passes by all day. And lo, I have caught their secret! The beauty deeper than all! This faith that life's hard moments, When the jarring sorrows befall, Are but God ploughing His mountains; And those mountains yet shall be The source of His grace and freshness, And His peace everlasting to me. －William C. Gannett.
莎士比亚(William Shalespeare 1564-1616)
英国诗人兼戏剧家莎士比亚，早年失学，一五八六年赴伦敦为伶人，后替剧场译改古典。一五九二年起，创
编剧本，自成杰作三十五篇，其中著称于世著，有四大悲剧；(一)Hamlet;(二)Macbeth;(三)Othello;(四)King Lear。著名喜剧有：(一)威尼斯商人，(二)仲夏夜之梦，(三)皆大欢喜，(四)以尺报尺。诗集出版者，有：(一)Venus and Adonis;(二)Lucrece;(三)短歌(Sdonis)等。莎氏虽为一个文学家，但大家都承认他是一位最伟大的道学先生(Mora teacher)。他于主日，必参加崇拜聚会，从不缺席，他研究圣经，终生不辍。在他的作品里常常谈到宗教问题，他虽未直接引用圣经，但是他却把圣经的教训，例如人类的原罪和悔改，上帝的公义和慈爱，用高雅的诗文，间接地表达出来。在他的遗嘱里，他写着这样一段话：
“我将我的灵魂交在我的造物主——上帝的手里，希望并且确信，靠着我救主耶稣基督的恩典，使我可以得到永生的福分。”
托尔斯泰 (Lel Tolstoy 1826-1910)
俄国文学家托尔斯泰为世袭伯爵、幼孤，与兄妹寄养叔母家。年十五，入卡山大学(University of Kazan)，因厌恶学课，借故退学；二十三岁，入高加索炮兵队；二十四岁，发表其处女作《幼年》(Childhood)。一八五四年，参加克里米战股；战后漫游欧陆。归后于故乡办学，潜心著述；后又尽弃家产，过农民生活。著有：(一)战争与和平，(二)安娜.卡列妮娜，(三)忏悔录，(四)主与仆，(五)人生论，(六)艺术论，(七)我之宗教观书。托氏反对政府专制，提倡人道主义，主张土公有，为俄国著名思想家。
托尔斯泰是一个终身寻找上帝的人，他在年轻的时候，原来对神有信仰，但后来却失去了，当他十八岁逃出卡山大学的时候，他把以往一所学所信的都丢弃了。
“到了成人的时代，他和一般世一样，把传统的宗教信仰，完全抛在脑后。但是，托尔斯泰和一般不信的人有一个很大的不同，便是他仍是深深感觉到：他虽已抛弃他固有的信仰，心里总觉得‘若有所失’，因他失去了以往那种敬虔和追求圣洁的生活，内心十分空虚。而这一空虚之感，正是他以后灵性复兴的转机。”(见J.A.Ha TT，《on Pilgrims in Religion of Faith》第一一八页。)
到了他五十岁，经过了若干年的傍徨和怠丧，他的灵魂终于得了安慰；他对神的信心，失而复得，他的人生也完全改变了！从此时起，直到死时，托尔斯泰便成了一个文学布道家。他以住的生活，乃傍徨不安，无论何种学问，都不能令其满意；至此以后，他便锲而不舍，得着生命真道。从前在世上追求良善、圣洁、和平、仁爱的愿望，全都落空；现在从福音里得了启示的光亮，看见主耶稣基督的圣容，才使他多年所渴慕的，具体呈现在他面前。
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