November 2007

By the time you read this newsletter, the fire in San Diego should have subsided. So far this fire has destroyed over a thousand homes and took six lives. By Wednesday, October 24, close to a million residents have to be evacuated from their homes. San Diego Qualcomm Stadium had to be opened to house the evacuees. UC San Diego had to shut down for a week due to polluted air. This brought back the horrifying memories of the destructive power of wild fire four years ago in the same county that leveled 4,847 homes and businesses and took fifteen people.        

Whether I watched the news or read the newspaper, I saw the uncontrolled fire that consumed everything in sight. There was no stopping! Trees that took years to grow to those heights were burnt to ashes in a relatively short time. Houses that took a long time to build were leveled in minutes. All that was left was ashes.

There are stories within the story in every tragedy such as this. There are families who lost everything, but were still thankful for having their lives; while others seemed to have lost all hope. This led me to think about the things that I build. I believe all of us are building something every day. Whether it’d be something tangible like a beautiful house, successful career, assets for retirement, and so on, or something intangible, like a loving home, genuine friendship, personal character, spiritual vigor, and so on, we are builders. In this building process, we need to prioritize the list, lest we spend too much time building something that has no true and long lasting value. Imagine someone dispenses all his energies to make money to build his house, yet leaves no time to build a healthy and strong-bonded family. It would be a shame. Having strong families is essential to withstand tragedy. Maybe this is a good time for us to think about the things we build today. Do those things have true and lasting value?

Since this is Thanksgiving season, I’m also thankful that God has kept us safe. I found that I often take “Life” for granted. I should be thankful to be able to get up in the morning; and if I have health on that day, I should be even more grateful. When it comes to thanksgiving, I’ve learned to be thankful for the things I have, rather than hoping to have the things I don’t have. I believe true thanksgiving relates to contentment, as the Bible says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” I’m most grateful to God for giving me Eternal Life, so that I don’t worry about where I will go after my life ends in this world. I’m also grateful God has put a purpose for me in this life, so that I won’t be aimlessly dispensing my energies for no reasons.

當你讀這份通訊的時候，相信在聖地牙哥的火災已經平息了。到目前為止，火災已摧毀了超過一千個家，並有六人喪失生命。到週三，十月二十四日為止，已有近百萬居民需要疏散離開家園。聖地牙哥的Qualcomm體育館已經開放來容納災民；聖地牙哥州立大學亦因空氣的污染停課一週。這次的大火帶來一個可怕的回憶，就是發生在四年前同一縣的山火，那一次燒毀了四千八百四十七間房屋和企業，並有十五人喪生。

無論我在看電視新聞或閱讀報章有關山火的報導時，我所看見的都是那無法控制的火吞滅所觸及的物件，火勢是沒有止息的。經過很多年才長成的樹木在很短迅間就被燒為灰燼；需要多時才被建造成的房子在數分鐘內就完全被滅。

在這些悲劇中必有故事中的故事。我聽聞有些家庭雖然失去了一切，但他們卻為了能仍然活著而感恩；而另外又聽到有一些人似乎已經失去了所有的希望。這使我聯想到今日我們所建造的東西。我相信我們每天都很忙碌地在建造。我們可能在建造有形的東西，就如一所美麗的房子、成功的事業、為退休而籌備的資產等；或是一些無形的東西，像一個充滿快樂的健康家庭、真摯的友誼、內在的品德、活潑的靈性等等。我們都是「建設者」。在這建設過程中，我們必需要將這一切用優先次序來排列優先名單，否則我們會花太多時間來建設一些沒有真正的和持久價值的事物。試想一個人分配了全部的精力去賺錢，希望能建造他的房子，但卻沒有時間去建立一個健康、注重關係的家庭，這就真是多麼可悲。因為生活在注重關係的家庭中的成員才可以合力去面對困境。也許現時是一個很好的時機讓我們來思考我們今天所建設的東西。這些事物是否有真正和持久的價值呢？

適逢這是感恩節期間，我感謝神一直保守我們平安。我發覺到我常以為「生命」是理所當然的。其實我們每一天能起床就藉得感恩了；如果那日有健康，就更加需要感恩。當想到感恩時，我學到為了我所擁有的而感恩，而不是希望能得到我所沒有的東西。我相信真正的感恩是在乎知足，正如聖經上說：「然而，敬虔加上知足的心便是大利了」。我非常感激神賜給我永恆的生命，所以我不需要擔心我在生命完結之後的去向。我也感謝神把一個人生目標給我，好使我在世上活著的時候不會無矢放的而浪費精力。

唐若愚牧師