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「我受苦是與我有益。」（聖經詩篇一百十九篇 71 節）
在這裡有一件值得注意的事情：最鮮艷的花草是生長在荒野的高山上的。最鮮明的苔蘚、最美麗的野花，都高長在荒涼光禿的峰巔上。
我個人所看見的最艷麗的顏色，是在一個一萬尺高的山頂上。山面長滿了金黃色的苔蘚，在日光下閃耀，非常美麗奪目。
你看，在那樣高的地方，那樣荒涼的地方，苔蘚受盡狂風暴雨的擊打，反呈露出這樣燦爛的顏色來。豈不奇怪？我有兩個苔蘚的標本，一個是從高山上採集來的，一個是從城牆上懸樹中採集來的；這兩個標本的形狀和顏色，有極顯著的不同。
生長在山巔上風雨中的那個標本是櫻紅色的，質地光滑，輪廓完美；生長在低地上溫氣中的那個標本是暗黑色的，質地粗糙 ，輪廓破碎。
受苦的信徒啊，你不是受盡了風雨的摧殘嗎？你不是失盡了所有的安慰嗎？神預備了風雨一次一次擊打你，叫你的外貌變得毀損陰沉；但是試煉一過，黑暗就要變成光明，你就要得到非常的祝福。 ── 選
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It is good for me that I have been afflicted." (Psalm 119:71.)
It is a remarkable circumstance that the most brilliant colors of plants are to be seen on the highest mountains, in spots that are most exposed to the wildest weather. The brightest lichens and mosses, the loveliest gems of wild flowers, abound far up on the bleak, storm-scalped peak.
One of the richest displays of organic coloring I ever beheld was near the summit of Mount Chenebettaz, a hill about 10,000 feet high, immediately above the great St. Bernard Hospice. The whole face of an extensive rock was covered with a most vivid yellow lichen which shone in the sunshine like the golden battlement of an enchanted castle.
There, in that lofty region, amid the most frowning desolation, exposed to the fiercest tempest of the sky, this lichen exhibited a glory of color such as it never showed in the sheltered valley. I have two specimens of the same lichen before me while I write these lines, one from the great St. Bernard, and the other from the wall of a Scottish castle, deeply embossed among sycamore trees; and the difference in point of form and coloring between them is most striking.
The specimen nurtured amid the wild storms of the mountain peak is of a lovely primrose hue, and is smooth in texture and complete in outline, while the specimen nurtured amid the soft airs and the delicate showers of the lowland valley is of a dim rusty hue, and is scurfy in texture, and broken in outline.
And is it not so with the Christian who is afflicted, tempesttossed, and not comforted? Till the storms and vicissitudes of God's providence beat upon him again and again, his character appears marred and clouded; but trials clear away the obscurity, perfect the outlines of his disposition, and give brightness and blessing to his life.
Amidst my list of blessings infinite Stands this the foremost, that my heart has bled; For all I bless Thee, most for the severe. -Hugh Macmillan.
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