「落水咧！」 (客語：下雨了)

 #2021-0530

霧峰終於下雨了，而且是傾盆大雨，真的令人雀躍；我倆的心也要歡呼：感謝主！

這乾涸已久的大地，你我張眼望去，各樣草木日漸枯黃的景象，可望在近日內有所轉圜。我們殷切期盼的改變，乃是往美好的方向變化----包括新冠疫情！

求主繼續施恩眷顧，好讓一切虧欠不足處，皆獲得滋養，重新得力；那麼，我們就要齊聲歡呼：Thanks be to God! 或同聲頌揚，說："Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever!"

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  有雲 ● 無雨

2)  《五月的秋景》

小兔子的家：The Bunny's Home

#2021-0529

This morning when Jean and I took a walk on the mountain slope, we noticed that the dry spell had made the hillside look brown, and that the stair-like footpath leading to the "Bunny's Home" had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oh, the drought and the pandemic must have been frightening to most of us! -- But thinking of the Bunny's Home, both my wife and I would smile again, because it is a very creative name that our grandchildren had given to the wooden structure up there that looks like a pavilion. (See the first 4 pictures below, as well as the top-right one.)

祖孫分住台中、台北。在疫情嚴重期間，若非有「視訊」的科技可用，無論心中有多少思念，都難以見面。而今日，身為爺爺奶奶的，走在山腰間，發現通往「小兔子的家」那條步道（如圖）已被封閉。顯然是為了防疫的理由：狹窄的階梯式步道，遊客「擦身而過」時，很難保持所謂「社交距離」。

註：「社交距離」即 social distancing；不過，有外文文章認為，應稱作 physical distancing 才合適，也才正確，因為人 (humans) 本質上就是群居的，社會性的生物 (social beings)。

The Burning Bush (燃燒的荊棘)

#2021-0527

The Burning Bush / 燃燒的荊棘

This morning when I saw these catching flowers (which are Bougainvillea, 九重葛屬; or more specifically, Great bougainvillea, 九重葛), I suddenly thought of the the Burning Bush described or recorded in Exodus 3:1-4:17.

Here is the beginning of the story:

One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him as a flame coming from the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire but that it was not burning up. "This is strange," he thought. "Why isn't the bush burning up? I will go closer and see."

When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer,  he called to him from the middle of the bush and said, "Moses! Moses!"

He answered, "Yes, here I am."

God said, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings, and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live. ..." (Exodus 3:1-8)

The story continues ... By the way, it's easy for me to cut and paste my favorite sections from the Bible to the Microsoft Word format, and then turn the Word document into PDF format; and finally by pushing the "Read Aloud" button of the PDF software, I can listen to the selected stories in addition to (or instead of) reading them aloud. I prefer to listen to the story of the burning bush; I find it more interesting to listen to the story (with my ears) than just to read it (with my eyes)!

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相關文章 (See also)： 一首山歌：《就這樣》

有雲 ● 無雨

#2021-0526

This afternoon I took pictures of the clouds while Jean and I were taking a walk at the Democracy Lawn (See photos). We've had a long drought here in Wufeng; however, there's no rain today!

Last year I also took some pictures of the clouds in the same place on the same day -- May 26. You may click at the first link below for those interesting pictures: Clouds after the rain!

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  Clouds after the Rain     (2020)

2)  民主草坪 -- "The Democracy Lawn"     (2019)

今日孤單否？ "Are You Alone Today?"

#2021-0524

I remember the bird I saw at Ringo-Tango the other day. Checking the information hidden in the digital photos, I found that it was May 12 when I saw it. This kind of bird has a funny local name (baitouweng*) meaning "the white-headed one." 

The bird alighted on a branch of the guihua (sweet osmanthus) in the front yard of Ringo-Tango. And it stayed there for quite a few moments, chirping, with its smart head turning this or that way constantly. It seemed to me that the bird was looking around for his (or her) partner -- or spouse!

"Are you alone today?" I asked the bird silently. 

Then, knowing the difference between alone and lonely, I asked again, "Are you a bit lonely now?" 

There's another English word, lonesome, meaning almost the same as "lonely" (but possibly being more commonly used in the US). Like many pop music lovers, I can remember Elvis Presley's "Are you lonesome tonight?" ...

But, to my surprise, after I watched the white-headed baitouweng for a couple of minutes, the smart-looking bird flew up suddenly; he (or she) flew away from where he/she was, with another baitouweng flying out from the leafy bush and quickly catching up with him/her!

Notes: 

*  白頭翁 (Baitouweng), 台語稱為 pėh-thâu-khok-á (白頭鵠仔); 客語稱為 phȧk-thèu-kûng-é (白頭公仔). In English it is called "Light-vented bulbul."

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  林果 ● 探戈     (2019)

2)  林果  探戈 -- We Are Here Again!     (2020)

3)  Ringo-Tango Again!     (2020)

Light in the Darkness

#2021-0520

The light in the darkness ... 《聖經》裡有關「黑暗中的光明」這個主題的幾段經文，摘錄如下：

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them." (以賽亞書 Isaiah 9:2)

"I will lead my blind people by roads they have never traveled. I will turn their darkness into light and make rough country smooth before them. These are my promises, and I will keep them without fail." (以賽亞書 Isaiah 42:16)

"The people who live in darkness will see a great light. On those who live in the dark land of death the light will shine." (馬太福音 Matthew 4:16)

"Your eyes are like a lamp for the body. When your eyes are sound, your whole body is full of light; but when your eyes are no good, your whole body will be in darkness." (路加福音 Luck 11:34)

"Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. 'I am the light of the world,' he said. 'Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.'" (約翰福音 John 8:12)

以上經文，摘錄於疫情指揮中心宣布全國進入「第三級警戒」的隔日，願所有的讀者，都蒙主賜福。