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逃到北京。。。 Escape To Beijing…

 

那段日子忙得透不过气,很多事情要处理:个人的、别人的、教会的、一大堆。。。一股冲动想飞出去呼吸新鲜空气,远离人群,远离日常的形式化,去放轻松冷静一下,想听听上帝的声音。。。
临时做了一个决定,我要飞去没到过的北京,不告诉任何人,因我想清静,没有人会猜想到我会去那里。

下午两点多,我坐在旅行社,她说中国理事馆每天只发签证到中午十一点半,过后就关门了,我的心冷了下来。。。
心里做了一个很快的祷告,祈求主的怜悯。。。

她派员工去中国理事馆尝试帮我求情,我凭信心先回家收拾行李。。。大概三点钟她来电说签证拿到了!

盖了电话,我不断跟上帝说:谢谢你、谢谢你。。。
那一天,我更明白什么叫恩典、什么叫怜悯,这么混乱的心情、这样不理性的决定,他也垂听。。。

几个小时后,我坐在飞往北京的飞机上。。。( 待续 )

Those days I was so busy that I felt suffocated, so many things to deal with: personal, others’, church’s etc etc… had a sudden urge to fly away to breathe some fresh air, away from everyone, away from daily norms, just to relax and cool down, and to hear God’s voice…
I made a sudden decision, I would to fly to Beijing which I have never been, not telling anyone ‘cos I just wanted to be quiet, nobody would guess I would go there…

At about 2pm, sitting in the travel agent’s office, she said the Chinese Embassy only releases visas till 11:30am daily, after that the office is closed for the day, my heart dropped…
I made a quick prayer in my heart pleading for God’s mercy…

She sent her staff to the Chinese Embassy to plead on my behalf, I went home to pack by faith… at about 3pm she called to say I got the visa!

I put down the phone and kept repeating to God : thank You, thank You…
That day, I understood more what grace and mercy mean, such messed-up feeling and such temperamental decision, yet He listened…

Few hours later, I was in the plane flying to Beijing… ( to be continued )

 

(Note: Originally posted on Sept 30th, 2009.)

小举动,大感动。。。 Small act, deep impact…

 

他时常嘻嘻哈哈,很会搞怪,可说是开心果一个。。。
他很创意,很有才华,会音乐、唱歌、画画等等,更是电脑奇才。。。
他算是蛮成功的,有自己的生意,也蛮受朋友欢迎。

有一年他生日,忘了是谁的主意,说一起去吃宵夜。。。
只不过是一间很平常的咖啡店,没有什么特别节目,大伙儿一起去吃,自己点自己想吃的。
有人带了一个小蛋糕来给他一个小“惊喜”。。。对我来说,这种庆祝再平常不过了,也算不了什么“庆祝”。
大家聊聊天、胡闹一场,吃完宵夜就回家了。我有注意到那晚他不像他一贯的吵闹、多话。。。

回到家,收到他简讯说:
谢谢你们!我真的很惊讶你们帮我庆祝生日,从来没有人曾经为我庆祝生日,所以我一时太感动,说不出什么话来,不知道该怎么回应,只想说真的太谢谢你们了。。。

他还说感动的想哭!这常常看起来很有自信的一个人?!

我想对我们很多人来说生日蛋糕和礼物已不是什么大不了的事,甚至还诸般挑剔;可是原来还有很多人从来没有什么人为他们庆祝过他们的生日,也没收过什么礼物!我想帮人计划一个小惊喜或送一份小礼物,我们很多应该都很轻易做得到吧?

有时候对我们来说只不过是一件轻而易举的举手之劳,但对他人来说却意义深远,我们没察觉到但却深深触摸及感动了他们的心。很简单的一个小举动,却也可以有很大的震撼和感动,我们还是赶快行动吧。。。

He is often quite jovial and mischievous, quite often the fun of the party…
He is rather creative and talented, knows music, can sing, draw etc, and is a computer genius…
He can be considered quite successful, has his own business and quite popular with friends.

One year on his birthday, I cannot remember whose idea it was, we went for supper together…
Just an ordinary coffee shop, no special programme, just a group of friends having supper together, and we all ordered our own food.
Someone brought along a small cake to give him a little “surprise”… To me, this kind of “celebration” is at the most ordinary level, it cannot even be considered a “celebration”.
We talked, joked and went home after supper. I did notice he was not his usual noisy and talkative self…

Upon reaching home, I received his text message, he said:
Thank you all so much! I was really surprised that you all celebrated my birthday for me, no one ever celebrated my birthday for me, so I was very touched and did not know what to say or how to respond… but just to say thanks so much…

he even said he was almost moved to tears! I mean for someone who always seems so confident like him?!

I think to many of us a birthday cake or gift is not really a big deal anymore, in fact we can even be very fussy about them. But as a matter of fact, many people never ever had anyone celebrating their birthday for them, nor received any gift for that matter!
I think helping to plan a little surprise or giving a small gift to someone should be quite easy for many of us, right?

Sometimes what is to us a tiny and easy act may mean a great deal to others, and may touch their hearts in a very deep way without us realizing. Just a very simple act but it can have a deep impact, we had better get up and act quickly…

 

 

 

一直到最後我們都沒有再講話。。。 Till the very end, we did not speak to each other again…

也没什么大争吵或打架,只不过是童年的一个小误会,竟然就一辈子再没讲话了。。。

他其实是我童年的一位玩伴和好朋友,那时也只不过是小学生的我们,有一天一起打羽毛球,因着什么条规他很生气,跟我起了一点小争执,过后他就不跟我讲话了。

其实小孩子通常都会有争执,可是过后又会和好,只是不知何故我们那一次过后就没有再讲过一句话!原来小孩子也可以赌气这么久,时间久了我也开始觉得尴尬,不知如何再跟他作朋友。

几年后我离开家乡到古晋读中学,那就跟他真的完全失去联络了。几年才回家乡一次,因为是小地方难免会遇见,觉得他不是很愿意打招呼,所以我也没主动问候或和好。渐渐的,我也很少回来了,出国回来了也继续住在古晋,极少回家乡,所以对家乡的人、事、物也没什么感情了。。。

我想都二十多年后了吧,有一天妈妈从家乡出来看我们,突然告诉我他自杀死了。。。我非常震惊!难以置信,悲感交集。。。
当时我已是一名传道人,脑子里面一直还有这朋友的影子。他从小就很迷信,所以我一直想有机会的话,要回去跟他和好,传福音给他,没想到却没机会了。。。

因妈跟他们都熟,妈说他一直都很迷信,还一度短暂出家,后又拜了许多偶像,仿佛一直寻找心灵的慰籍。据说他自杀的前一天,他仿佛对一切绝望,把所拜的偶像都堆集起来一起打破,然后喝杀虫剂自尽!他自杀后没有马上死,垂死挣扎的几天,妈有去医院看他,他已不能说话。妈劝他要信耶稣,以前他都很抗拒,可是妈说这一次他仿佛都听进去了,带着泪水的眼神同意妈为他祷告。

几天后,他死了。。。

我心里有一丝丝的遗憾,他是那么孤单和可怜啊,我怎么一直都没有再跟他讲话呢?
儿时的玩伴、胡闹、笑声、情景都历历在眼前,犹记得有一次在河里游泳我差点溺毙,还是他救了我。。。
结果就那么一场小游戏、小误会,就丧失了一个朋友,值得吗?

唯愿我们有机会就把爱传给人,心里想做的赶快去做,不要拖延,免得来不及而后悔莫及。
也求主怜悯,让他在最后的那一刻,当妈劝他信耶稣的时候,我祷告他心里真的也有呼求主。。。

 

There was no big quarrel or fight, just some tiny childhood misunderstanding, just for that we did not speak to each other ever again…

He was actually my childhood companion and good friend. We were only in primary school then. One day as we were having some badminton game, over some rule he became very angry with me and had a small argument with me. After that he did not speak to me again.

Actually children have quarrels all the time but they reconcile again very fast, just I do not know why we never spoke to each other ever again after that! I realised children can hold grudges for a long time too. As the silence prolonged, I began to feel awkward too and did not know how to befriend him again.

Few years later I left home to pursue my secondary education in Kuching, and that truly broke off my contact with him completely. I would only go back to my hometown once every few years, and because it was a small town, we inevitably would bump into each other. I somehow felt he did not seem very friendly towards me, so I did not take the initiative to greet him or reconcile too. As the years went by, the number of times I came home greatly reduced. After my return from overseas, I continued to live in Kuching and very seldom went home, so I had no more attachment with the people, environment and happenings in my hometown…

It must have been more than twenty years later, one day when my mum came out from our hometown to visit, she suddenly told me he had committed suicide and died… I was very shocked! I could not believe and felt sad and sorrowful…
I was already a preacher by then, this friend still appeared in my mind many times. He was very superstitious since young, so I had often thought if I had a chance, I would go home to reconcile with him and share the Gospel with him, but I never had the chance again…

Because mum was familiar with them, mum said he had all along been very superstitious, and even became a monk for a short period, and later worshipped many idols as well. It appeared that he was searching for some comfort in his soul. Sources said the day before he killed himself, he seemed to lose hope in everything, he put all his idols in a pile and destroyed them all and  he drank pesticide to kill himself after that! He did not die immediately after his suicide attempt, during the few days he struggled with death, mum visited him in the hospital, he could not speak anymore by then. Mum persuaded him to believe in Jesus, he used to be very resistant but mum said this time he seemed to listen , and with teary eyes agreed for mum to pray for him.

He died few days later…

I have some regret in my heart, he was such a lonely and pitiful man, why did I not speak to him at all again?
Childhood companion, the fun, laughter, memories all flash across my mind, I can still remember once I almost drowned while swimming in the river and it was him who saved my life…
And just over a small game, a little misunderstanding, losing a friend for that, is it worth it?

May we share our love with others whenever we have a chance, quickly do what our hearts prompt us to do, do not delay further or we might regret later.
May God have mercy on him too that at that very last moment when mum was persuading him to believe in Jesus, I pray that his heart did call on the name of the Lord…