Salvage the name in your heart

The fifth cup of life supplement "With You All the Way" explores 48 aspects of friendship!

When God created man, he said, "It is not good for him to be alone." John. Tang En also wrote a famous poem: "No man is an island." Even though modern terms such as "loneliness", "alienation", "indifference" and "loneliness" are flying around the world like fallen leaves, no one can walk alone for a lifetime after setting their first footprints on the earth.

This is God’s design and the human heart’s hope. The howling wind never turns into dust. We are crossing barren mountains and wild places, we are all in the same boat. Although the world is vast, I will go there. Because in the wind and rain, we are not alone.

Therefore, everyone is more or less surrounded by figures, walking hand in hand, laughing about life, exchanging cunning wisdom, leaving a series of meandering footprints.

But I don’t know how long ago, the footprints around me quietly disappeared one by one...

As time and space changed, and we rowed back and forth from shore to shore, each name sank into my heart unintentionally, and new names came to my mind, surrounded by shadows of people who were crossing the raft together one after another.

Sometimes, due to the complexity of human nature and strange encounters, the ferry capsizes... When it floats again, it has become a lonely figure, ferrying back and forth lonelyly among the rivers and lakes.

thereforeWhen people are middle-aged, writing about friendship is sometimes like salvaging a sunken ship. In the rivers and deep seas, we salvage one familiar name after another. Years are like yesterday, and the past is before my eyes. Time and time again, I am delighted to discover that there are jar after jar of gold coins hidden deep in the sunken ship, shining in the dim light, waiting to be discovered.

It turns out that life is so rich and colorful. Just because there were some overlapping footprints and noisy footsteps around me.

What this book collects is exactly this kind of treasure-digging experience, counting gold coins one after another in life.

testimony of life

In some ways, friendship writing is also a record of testimony. Witness the figures that have appeared in our lives one by one, because we are the most faithful witnesses to the fragments of our friends’ lives.

Among them, some are lucky enough to witness each other from youth to middle-aged and old age - "Friends come from afar". Comparing the past and the present, you may feel that what was right is different than what is now, so you feel sorry for the other person's hard work - "What a beautiful jasmine flower"; or you may be glad that your friend is still strong - "Reunion".

Sometimes, misfortune can only witness the short life of a friend. Due to various reasons, the other person retreats from life before the author. Facing his back, the author can only murmur about the past, after and no longer with each other - "Idle Clouds, Wild Grasses".

Some people progress together in various stages of life, growing up, getting married, and having children together. They can still continue their friendship together after middle age - "White Hunter" and "Promise in the Sunset". How blessed is it to have such affection?

There are also some that were once so close, but are now far away. After many years of separation, our lives no longer have any intersection. However, that short period of getting along with each other brought a defining influence on the author's personality - "From Mo to Zhu", "Meeting the Queen", or the eternal blessing in life - "Whispering Love".

From the book, we can also read that the author was so eager for a confidant that he spent his whole life pursuing but never found one in the world - "Searching for a lifelong confidant". There are also some who do not necessarily want to be close friends, but friendship is the most important thing when interacting with each other: the other party can help the author without asking for anything in return - "Don't dare to drink"; extending the palm is to support, not to ask for - "Friendship" , "Going out to rely on friends", "Master Master". Even if you are a stranger in a foreign land, the other person will not hesitate to show kindness and help you - "Journey Warmth".

Bit by bit, they are the authors’ clippings and annotations of fragments of their friends’ lives.

The test of friendship

Natural and true friendship should withstand the test. Even if their hearts belong to the same woman, they can still give it to each other - "Friendship in the cold winter". Or after the test of distant time and space, they can still preserve the precious friendship between each other - "Treasures in the Bag", "Frozen Time and Space".

But human nature also has its weaknesses. Different high and low experiences after separation, or unbearable memories, can also divide "us" who originally started from the same starting point into "you and me." Since we have forgotten each other in the world, even if we have the opportunity to contact each other again in the future, we will not talk because of the timid feelings of being close to home - "Written to Hongwa"!

The most surprising test of friendship is when one of the partners becomes a Christian. At this time, some life value choices suddenly became clear between Chu and Han. If you do it right, you may not be able to maintain the friendship you had in the past. But at least, the author can feel as relaxed as "getting out of prison" - "pay off".

So can friendship stand the test?

It's obviously hard to describe.

biggest gift

As for family affection and friendship, they are often not the same thing. But if we can draw an equal sign, what a beautiful thing it is. It is indeed the so-called "kissing becomes closer". Especially for a man who is usually not very expressive, his wife is likely to be his closest companion throughout his life - "I love you, my friend". Even so, the sonata of life composed by the CCP in marriage also has its own ups and downs - "Sonata for Violin and Piano".

But even if we are close relatives, they are good enough to be buried together, but they are not good enough to be together in heaven for a long time - "This love will last forever".

As for the daughter, it can be seen from the article that the mother is her daughter’s true best friend. Of course, there is also the Lord Jesus whom the mother most wants to introduce her daughter to—"Daughter's best friend" and "Accompanying the child to love together."

But we must also admit that not all relatives are friends. Chinese people, especially those who are not good at expressing themselves, often murmur their admiration to the backs of their loved ones. Or because they lack courage, they say goodbye with their backs - "The bubble fish that says goodbye with its back".

Among all friendships, those who are deeply imprinted on our lives are often our teachers and friends. Although some teachers have gone through hardships, they have not extinguished the fire of caring for others in their hearts. They are still determined to fight for a different life for their beloved disciples - "No Regrets". Or present the true image of life in teaching to convey the style and attitude of grasping life and cherishing it - "One session per period".

However, the most valuable thing about the friendship between people is transcendence. Beyond likes, karma, and any congeniality or affinity, it is entirely due to the nobility of human nature that one gives unconditional devotion that is close to divinity.

Many articles in the book mention that some people give each other different points of focus in love because of their faith. They can transcend culture, race or language and provide money, effort, teach English, provide legal counsel or other services to wanderers in foreign lands. Life care - "Guardian Angel in a Foreign Land - Old K", "Friends from a Foreign Land", "Pearl of Recollection of the Sea", "Angel Friend", "Kong Afraid".

not only,Behind all unconditional giving lies the greatest gift of all: the Lord Jesus. It was under such circumstances that many authors approached the cross and became Christians.

Variations

It cannot be denied that friendships also have their changes. Some interactions not only fail to bring warm memories to people, but instead become tribulations, leaving scars in life.

At this time, the relationship between the two became a kind of high-temperature forging - "That year, we were nineteen years old", which was created by the personalities God placed in our lives - "Friendship is like a whetstone", "The true meaning of friends" . There are also times when the only comfort is the nail-marked hands of Jesus - "Looking at the nail-marked hands in a blink of an eye". In fact, it is necessary to forgive in order to get over the hurt caused by the other party - "Getting past the sadness".

The important thing is that if you can overcome evil with good, after a period of precipitation, you will eventually be able to win the love of the gospel for the Lord Jesus - "Yesterday there was no love, now there is love".

On the other hand, if there is no regret in friendship, in addition to fair treatment, financial and material assistance, and spiritual care in life, the needs of the soul must also be taken into consideration. Otherwise, for a Christian, no matter how vigorous a relationship is, it will still be "not enough of a friend" - "The Lost Lamb".

Dreaming small table

Let me tell you about the admiration in my heart!

I like the taste of life provided by friendship in the book: the taste of a cup of orange tea. I also like the color of life that friendship provides: because of the other person’s characteristics of optimism, humor, and trust in God, life is full of color—"The Taste and Color of Life".

Let’s talk about the human love that I yearn for!

I can swim in Hantian Creek with a group of people every day, regardless of age, occupation, education level and background. They gather at the same place every day and cross Hantian Creek together. Although the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, they cultivate "revolutionary" emotions because of their common goals. Completely accepting each other, asking each other's questions, and helping each other draw a beautiful picture of "being on earth as it is in heaven" - "Friendship and Test of Swimming in the Stream".

As for the highest state of friendship, it is to gather around a small table with a group of fellow pilgrims to cheer each other up, pray or study the Bible, and seek together an altar to devote oneself to in the future. Many years later, the dream on the small table turned out to be brilliant, and one by one the four couples became faithful servants used by God - "What happened next?" 〉.

Of course we don’t have a share in that “small table”. However, every summer, the cultural practice camp organized by the "Kingdom Resources for Christ (KRC)" in the Eastern United States is another "small table" where we can pursue the dream of the kingdom together - "With You All the Way".

Because of that "little table", I became partners with the authors in Pilgrimage, and the "Life Tonic" book series came into existence. Because of this, we will have the most beautiful time to ask each other frequently in the future, "What happens next?" That is, when we arrive in the Kingdom of Heaven one by one, we can still talk about the past and the present together with unfinished content.

This book, "With You Along the Way", has forty-two authors and forty-eight articles. It can also be said to be a living microcosm of this heavenly friendship and a yearning metaphor.

We sincerely present these handfuls of salvaged gold coins and hope to share them with you. We also sincerely hope that you will appear on our way.

When you read it, you may be moved or touched, but it means a lot to us. becauseIf we can have you all the way on the road of writing, all our writing will have more eternal meaning and hope.

Author profile

Chen Huiwan, the pen name is Mo Fei. Came to the United States from Taiwan at the age of eighteen. He worked as a computer engineer for Hughes Aircraft Company in California for six years, and then specialized in writing. Now lives in Los Angeles. He has written the prose "Accidentally, I Picked Up Paradise" and the novels "Portraits of Six Women", "Remnant Faces", "Love in the Place of Suddenly Looking Back" and other books. He is a standard bookworm and lives in his head. This article is based on her speech.