I was in the Santa Cruz Mountains not long ago, speaking and singing at a women's conference. We were focusing on the theme of loving others in practical ways through our gifts, and something in particular happened during one of the sessions that will remain imprinted in my memory as a beautiful illustration of this practice.

不久前我在圣克魯斯山脈，在一次婦女大會上有說有唱。我們關注的主題是通過送禮物等實用的方法來關愛他人。其中一個會議期間發生的一件特殊的事將成為最美的印跡永遠銘刻在我的記憶中。

A young Syrian woman ("Lilith") had been invited to the conference at the last minute, and everyone seemed surprised and delighted that she'd actually come. Just a few days earlier, Lilith had fled her country and found refuge with one of the women attending the conference. As an Orthodox Christian in Syria, she and her loved ones had become targets of violent atrocities from radical terrorist groups in the country's ongoing civil war.

一位年輕的敘利亞女士(莉莉絲)在最后一分鐘被邀請到會議上，大家看起來都很驚訝，也很高興她真的來了。就在幾天前，莉莉絲逃離她的國家，和另外一個參加會議的女士一起尋找避難所。作為敘利亞的一名東正教教徒，她和親人們成為了這個國家正在進行的內戰中激進的恐怖組織暴行的目標。

Lilith had witnessed horrors no one her young age should ever see. Despite the further danger it presented, she'd decided to leave her home and her family to find safety here in America. Knowing some of her story, and seeing her sitting through the sessions at the retreat -- head covered in a scarf, face bowed toward the floor -- broke my heart.

莉莉絲目擊了她這個年紀的年輕人不該見到的恐怖。盡管要面臨更大的危險，但她決定離開家和家人來美國尋求安全。知道了她的一些故事，看見她會議期間有些退卻——頭上包著圍巾，臉朝著地面壓得很低——我感覺心要碎了。

Lilith's story touched all of us, including Pam, an attendee who was a quilt maker. Pam had just finished a gorgeous, intricately-patterned quilt, and had brought it with her. She, along with a few of the leaders, decided to give it to Lilith as a symbol of their comfort and love. Lilith had left her own mother behind in her homeland, and I can't imagine how frightened and alone she felt. But in her absence I could see there were lots of "mamas" in this community of women who were more than ready to love on her.

莉莉絲的故事觸動了我們所有人，包括與會的被子生產商帕姆。帕姆剛做出了一床華麗的、圖案精致的被子，也帶過來了。她和幾位領導決定把它贈給莉莉絲，被子象征了他們的安慰和愛。莉莉絲把母親留在了家鄉，我無法想象她感到多么害怕孤單。但她的離開使我看到在這個女性團體中有很多“媽媽”，她們都準備好要把愛獻給她。

During our last session together Lilith was called forward and prayed over, hugged, and wrapped up in that beautiful quilt. I thought of the many hours Pam undoubtedly spent working on it, unaware of the horrendous events that would lead Lilith to this moment--literally surrounded by the beauty and love the quilt embodied. I wept. When they told her it was for her, she wept. We all wept, honking our noses and wiping our eyes.

我們最后一次在一起開會時，莉莉絲被叫去站到前面，大家為她祈禱，擁抱她，把那條漂亮的被子圍在她身上。我想到帕姆毫無疑問花了好長時間做這個被子，當時她根本不知道那些可怕的事會把莉莉絲帶到這里——此時卻被被子蘊含的美麗和愛所圍繞。我哭了，她們告訴她這個被子是給她的時候，她哭了。我們都哭了，抽泣著擦著眼淚。

I thought about the words from 1 Peter 4:10: Serve one another with the particular gifts God has given each of you, as faithful dispensers of the magnificently varied grace of God. The words particular and varied suggest to me that there may be as many gifts as there are people and personalities. A quilt wrapped around a ravaged young woman is just one practical, loving act of service that demonstrates God's grace.

我想到了彼得前書的4章10節里的話：各人要照所得的恩賜彼此服侍，作神百般恩賜的好管家。這番話特別換了一種方式提醒我有多少人和個性就有多少禮物。一位受到傷害的年輕女子身上圍的被子就是體現了上帝慈悲的一個充滿愛意的行為。

It's the particular things we do that we sometimes think are too small or inconsequential compared to the overwhelming suffering we witness. But to do nothing when we see an opportunity--to serve, to comfort, to ease another's pain--is to withhold whatever facet of God's magnificently varied grace our gift offers.

這就是我們所做的特別的事，有時我們認為這和我們見到的勢不可擋的苦難相比太過渺小或不重要。但有機會時，如果沒有服務、安慰、緩解別人的痛苦，就沒有體現出上帝給予的恩賜所展現的各種慈悲的任何一面。


 

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