福傳道上

「你們在主內應當常常喜樂，我再說：你們應當喜樂！」(斐4:4)

斐理伯人書是保祿在羅馬監獄中所寫的書信。古羅馬的監獄與今天我們在電視中常見的監獄完全是兩回事，獄中環境惡劣和危險，囚犯們過渡著非人生活，隨時性命難保。在如此艱辛和惡劣的境況中，保祿卻偏偏寫成了這喜樂平安的作品。為甚麼呢？

其實，基督徒心裡的喜樂平安，與世人所追尋的喜樂平安，完全是兩回事。基督徒的喜樂平安是真正的喜樂平安，一旦得到，是永遠不會失去的。所以保祿在惡劣的羅馬監獄中，心裡仍存喜樂，也提醒斐理伯城信徒要常常喜樂。

基督徒心裡的喜樂也是感染性的，所以在福傳道上，我常遇上福傳良伴，大家懷著同樣喜樂的心情，一起效法保祿，將自己生命的每一分、每一秒，和生活上的每一點、每一滴，都像祭酒般獻上，為光榮天主而傾流淨盡(cf.弟後4:6)。郭詠觀醫生(Dr. Jason Kwok)就是我在福傳道上遇上的一位良伴。他和我相遇時擦出的一點火花，或者也算是在基督的愛內綻放的異采。這異采記述在《生命恩泉》最近推出的兩輯專訪中。願天主賜給郭醫生和我在主內的喜樂與平安，藉《生命恩泉》的製作，感染性地傳給你們！

(以下是郭詠觀醫生的分享，《浪子回頭上/下集》，每集大概26分鐘。)

浪子回頭上集

浪子回頭下集

山在聖經裡所象徵的意義

生於香港荃灣的我，自小喜愛觀看多霧的大帽山。它像一個張開雙臂的巨人, 熊抱著我們的鄉村小鎮。若能登山瞭望, 遠看圍繞山腳下的市鎮, 田野, 港口, 附近的島嶼和遠處的海洋, 感覺是怎樣的呢？若可以放下繁重的學校功課到山上的樹林任意闖蕩, 這是多麼稱心如意的快事啊！山頂常年被雲霧遮蓋, 低垂的雲層底下究竟隱藏著甚麼？天主是不是就住在那裡？

這就是當年的我, 一個小男孩, 坐在荃灣官立小學教室裡，望著窗外聳立的大帽山, 所作的白日夢......。

山在聖經裡是一個特殊的地方，每一個認真的聖經讀者，都不能忽略它在聖經裡所象徵的意義：山，是一個讓人心靈提升的地方; 山，能讓人從生活的重擔獲得釋放; 山，雄奇高峻，讓人看得更廣，望得更遠; 山，甚至讓人超凡入聖，與造物者結伴同遊。

正因為這樣，耶穌一生很多重要時刻, 都發生在山上：魔鬼的試探，山中聖訓，耶穌顯聖容，祂在橄欖山上的山園祈禱，十字架的苦難和聖死，和祂最後從山上升天。

轉看舊約經文，山的啓示在舊約裡同樣豐富：摩黎雅山是亞巴郎獻依撒格的地點，後來撒羅滿王亦在此興建耶路撒冷聖殿;在西乃山上，天主頒下十誡並和以色列人結立盟約; 在曷勒布山上，天主在「暴風大作」, 「裂山碎石」, 「烈火」和「輕微細弱的風聲」中向先知厄里亞顯露了自己（列王紀上19：11-12）。

在聖經中，遙遠和連綿起伏的山，卻成了天主和人相近之地；山勢縱然峻峭，遙不可及，當中卻有唾手可得的天主聖言和律法；青山縱然隱蔽重疊，難於尋覓，在山的至聖至高之處, 真誠尋找天主的人卻要看見天主的面容。

Mountain Symbolism in the Bible

Born a resident of Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, I grew up admiring the Tai Mo Shan, which held our small rural town in its broad embrace like a giant. What is it like to stand atop the mountain and take in the panoramic view of the low-lying town, its farmlands, its harbor, the nearby islands and the ocean beyond? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to let go of the burdens of school work and roam wild in the woods of the mountain? What’s hidden underneath the clouds that cover its summit all year round? Does God live there?

Those were my daydreams, a rural town boy sitting in the classroom of Tsuen Wan Government Primary School, looking out its windows to the awe-inspiring Tai Mo Shan….

The mountain is a special place in the Bible. No serious reader can afford to overlook the significance of mountain symbolism in the Bible: it’s a place of ascent; it’s a liberation from the burden of life; its majestic height enables us to see wider and farther; it connects us to the Sacred and Divine and puts us in touch with the Creator.

It is, therefore, no coincidence that so many important moments of Jesus’ life took place in the setting of the mountain: the temptation, the Sermon on the Mount, the Transfiguration, his agony on Mount Olive, the Crucifixion, and his Ascension.

Looking further into the Old Testament, there were the Old Testament mountains of revelation: Mount Moriah, where Abraham sacrificed Isaac and later King Solomon built the Jerusalem Temple; Mount Sinai where the Decalogue was proclaimed to, and a covenant made with, Israel; Mount Horeb, where God revealed Himself to the prophet Elijah following “strong and heavy wind”, “an earthquake”, “fire” and “a tiny whispering sound” (1Kings 19:11-12).

The mountains of the Bible were remote and yet they formed the backdrops for the close encounters between God and men; unreachable and yet they comprised the settings in which God’s words and ordinances were made within human reach; hidden and hard to find and yet it’s in their lofty heights and sacred spaces that God revealed Himself to those who sought Him.