相隔近一年未曾更新的網誌，不妨就再次以書摘開始吧！當自己有過幾次宣講的經驗後，再次品嚐
Barbara B. Taylor的講章集，果真有不一樣的感受。但相同的部分，是為當中詞語所震懾。那種泫然欲泣的滋味，是被上主話語觸摸的靜默無語（
speechless / silence）。深願自己能繼續朝此邁進，邀請聽眾一同前來，觀看生命之道的豐盛意象
（image）。
Without romance,
we might never bind ourselves to one other person and learn how to negotiate a
life together. Without romance, we might never decide to bear children and find
out what it means to give our life for the life of another. It is a kind of
trick in which the object of our desire is swapped in midair. We reach for our
illusions. What we lay hold of is the truth. It can be shocking, sometimes, but
it is also salvific, because without the ideal, we might never grasp the
reality. So I have this budding theory that romance is how life gets us where
life needs us to be. And by extension, that the romance of ordination is how
God tricks us into servanthood.
But that was not the only choice they had. Instead of surrendering
themselves to their fear, they could surrender themselves to God. They could
deny the panic-stricken voice inside of them—the one that kept ordering them to
play it safe—and listen for that other voice instead, the one that says, “Wake
up. Follow me. Do not fear.” That voice has never promised safety. It has
always promise life. It has never offered freedom from pain. It has only
offered freedom from fear.
It is how God works, now and forever—not by protecting us from death
but by bringing us back to life again—because life, not death, is God’s will
for us. Every moment of our lives carries the seeds of that truth. Those who
miss it are of all people most to be pitied. And those who believe it? Our hope
shall never die. Amen.
