A Glimmer on the Sea 一抹曙光
Dexu Xia
A Glimmer on the Sea
At that time you were separate from Christ. . . . without hope and without God in the world.
“I lay on my bed full of stale liquor and despair,” wrote journalist Malcolm Muggeridge of a particularly dismal evening during his work as a World War II spy. “Alone in the universe, in eternity, with no glimmer of light.”
In such a condition, he did the only thing he thought sensible; he tried to drown himself. Driving to the nearby Madagascar coast, he began the long swim into the ocean until he grew exhausted. Looking back, he glimpsed the distant coastal lights. For no reason clear to him at the time, he started swimming back toward the lights. Despite his fatigue, he recalls “an overwhelming joy.”
Muggeridge didn’t know exactly how, but he knew God had reached him in that dark moment, infusing him with a hope that could only be supernatural. The apostle Paul wrote often about such hope. In Ephesians he noted that, before knowing Christ, each of us is “dead in [our] transgressions and sins . . . . without hope and without God in the world” (2:1, 12). But “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead” (vv. 4–5).
This world tries to drag us into the depths, but there’s no reason to succumb to despair. As Muggeridge said about his swim in the sea, “It became clear to me that there was no darkness, only the possibility of losing sight of a light which shone eternally.”
What has been your darkest moment? In what places have you glimpsed the “light that shines eternally”?
Father, You’re the source of all my genuine hope. Fill me with Your light and joy.
一抹曙光
那时，你们与基督无关，⋯⋯并且活在世上没有指望，没有上帝。—以弗所书2章12节
马尔科姆 · 蒙格瑞奇（Malcolm Muggeridge）在二次世界大战中担任间谍记者，在一个阴郁的夜晚他写道﹕“我躺在床上，浑身都是陈腐的酒味，绝望笼罩着我。我孤独地存在于宇宙中，好像永远都看不见一线曙光。”
当时深陷绝望的蒙格瑞奇认为唯一明智的选择，就是投水自尽。于是他开车到附近的海岸，跳入水中朝向海中央游去，他越游越远，直到筋疲力尽。当他回头一望，瞥见远处沿岸的灯光，不知何故，他随即朝着那些亮光游回岸边。尽管已疲惫不堪，但他仍记得当时心中涌流出无比的喜乐。
蒙格瑞奇仍然不明白当时到底是怎么一回事，但他知道，在那个黑暗的时刻是上帝抓住了他，让那一份超自然的盼望充满了他。使徒保罗亦经常提到这种盼望，他在以弗所书中指出，在认识基督之前，我们每个人都“死在[我们的]过犯罪恶之中，……没有指望，没有上帝”（2章1、12节）。然而，“上帝既有丰富的怜悯，因祂爱我们的大爱，当我们死在过犯中的时候，便叫我们与基督一同活过来”（4-5节）。
这个世界试图将我们拖进深渊，但我们无需向绝望屈服。正如蒙格瑞奇回忆这段海上的经历时说﹕“我清楚地意识到其实没有黑暗，只不过是我没看到那永远闪耀的光芒。”
天父，祢是我们一切真实盼望的源头，
求祢让祢的恩光和喜乐充满我们。
什么样的境况是你最黑暗的时刻？
你在哪里瞥见了“永远闪耀的光芒”呢？