Once Upon a Time

By Kiera Lhys
Artwork by Iris Lo

Once upon a time.
Simple words that begin a fairy tale.
Fairies, and magic, and evil queens,
And happily-ever-afters.
Once upon a time.
There once lived a little girl.
Her mama ran away without a thought,
Leaving her alone with Papa and Granma,
And her once-upon-a-times.
Her papa got her a new mama,
And her granma went to heaven.
Still, the little girl kept living
In once-upon-a-times.
She grew up a dreamer.
Her mind was always in the clouds.
Reality is fantasy, and fantasy is reality
With once-upon-a-times.
The little girl always felt alone.
She didn’t know that God was always near,
Even when she loses herself
Within once-upon-a-times.
A trusted friend finally showed her
God’s outstretched hand and unfailing love.
The girl reached out and took His hand.
No more once-upon-a-times.
God has saved her from herself
And has redeemed her from evil.
If not for God, she would still be cursed to live
Inside once-upon-a-times.
There is no life within fantasy.
God gave new life with new meaning
The moment she accepted Him and
Left her once-upon-a-times.
Once upon a time.
Simple words that bring only emptiness.
In Christ alone, I place my trust.
Simple words that bring happily-ever-afters
When He calls us home.

曾幾何時

原文：Kiera Lhys ︱中譯：小米 | 插圖：盧詠莛

曾幾何時，
童話的開頭只需三言兩語:
魔法、巫婆和仙女，
然後，就是永遠幸福快樂的結局。
曾幾何時，
有一個小女孩，
她媽媽走的時候不曾猶豫，
留她下來跟爸爸、奶奶相依。
曾幾何時，
爸爸給她找了個新媽媽；
奶奶去了天堂，
而她仍舊不斷長大。
曾幾何時，
她整天都在做夢；
她的心裡一片混沌，
現實是一場幻覺，而幻想裡面的一切卻那麼真。
曾幾何時，
小女孩總是覺得孤單；
她並不知道主一直在她身旁，
即使，當她已經變得認不出她自己。
曾幾何時，
一個好友終於讓她知道，
主的膀臂一直為她而伸，主愛無窮無盡；
女孩於是伸出自己的手，握住主的手。
於是–再也沒有曾幾何時，
主把她從舊我裡面拯救出來，
主已經把她從罪惡裡贖出，
如果沒有主，她會仍舊生活在詛咒中，
仍舊不斷重復著“曾幾何時”。
幻覺沒有生命，
而在主裡的新生卻還有了簇新的意義；
當她接受主的那一刻，
她就離開了那些“曾幾何時”。
曾幾何時，
三言兩語之後有的只是空虛；
我只信靠主，
這同樣簡單的語句，卻真意味著幸福快樂的結局，
因為它，我們得以到天家裡與主團聚。

The Best in the World: Thoughts on the Good Samaritan

By Brad Snider

When I was younger, my favourite sport was road hockey, and I played every chance I got. Consequently, I became pretty good at it. But in my young mind, I soon thought I wasn’t just pretty good; I was the best in the world! Everyone I played with couldn’t run like me, couldn’t shoot like me, couldn’t stick-handle like me – I would play with older kids and I was better than them too! But that little world all came crashing down one day.I was at a friend’s house, and the two of us were playing road hockey outside. As we were playing, a friend of his came walking down the street. “Hey, my friend is coming to play with us,” my friend said to me. “He’s pretty good. In fact, he’s better than you!” I was indignant! “We’ll see about that!” I said as I grabbed the hockey stick out of his hand, determined to show him the error of his ways. We played, and it turned out he was better than me, much better! I soon discovered that not only was I not the best in the world at road hockey, now I wasn’t even the best on the block! I had an encounter that day with someone which left me with a very different view of myself than when I had arrived. And it was humbling.

世界上最好的：「好撒瑪利亞人的比喻」讀後感

原文：Brad Snider | 中譯：楊光

小的時候，我最喜歡在街道上打曲棍球，一有機會就出去玩，所以我打得還挺不錯。但是，過了一陣，在我幼小的心靈中，我覺得我不僅僅打得好，而是世界上最好的！沒人比我跑得快，沒人射門比我射得準，沒人的球技比我的精，連比我年齡大的孩子都沒我打得好！但是有一天我的這個世界崩潰了。那天我在朋友家玩，兩人在外面打曲棍球，他的一個朋友走過來說，「我有個朋友要來和咱們一起玩。」我的朋友對我說，「他打得可好了，比你都好！」我感到很不以為然，便說，「哼，走著瞧吧！」我一把從他手中搶走了球棍，決定向他證明他的想法是多麼錯誤。我們開始打球，結果他真的打得比我好，而且好很多！我很快發現，我不僅僅不是世界上最好的曲棍球手，現在連我們街上鄰居中都不是最好的！我那天遇到的人改變了我對自己的看法，使我感到慚愧。

To be like Christ

By Sharon Chan

Humility is one of the hardest Christ qualities to emulate. Jesus personified humility by his death. Though He is God, he made himself lower than sinful humans by taking their sin. Though he did not deserve suffering, he obeyed the Father’s will which earned Him the wages of sin. It was entirely in Lord Jesus’ right to exercise His authority: to overcome his human tormentors, to punish those who showed contempt to Him, and to judge those He came to save. But He didn’t.

更像基督

原文：陳沙崙 ︱中譯：趙泰和

謙卑是基督的品格中是最難效仿者之一。耶穌的死真實地展現了謙卑。雖然祂是上帝，祂卻自我降卑，甚至低於人，甘願擔當人的罪。雖然祂不該承受這樣的苦難，但祂順服天父的旨意，得到了罪的工價。耶穌其實有絕對的權利來行使祂的權柄：制服那些折磨祂的人，懲罰蔑視祂的人，並且審判所有祂要拯救的人。

Happy《快樂》

Poem and artwork By Naomi | 原文及插圖：小米

It is true
that
I am no longer young and pretty
I am living a life without family
I have no lover, no career
no money

But you know what?
Because of Jesus,
I am happy

這首名叫《快樂》的詩，是我為主耶穌作的見證。也許，在世人眼中，自己一事無成，可是，主耶穌親自把聖靈，栽種在我的心裡讓我得以在喜樂和平安中，迎接每一天的晨曦。

His Grace is Enough

By Emily Xu | English Translation: Linda Yang

When I first accepted Christ, all I focused on was the receiving of eternal life and going to heaven. I didn’t really understand the Lord’s sacrificial love nor was I able to make myself interested in reading the Bible. I also was not very keen on attending church and often tuned out during sermons.

There were even times when I felt that the Lord’s commandments impeded my freedom, as if this “label” of being a Christian had trapped me. It was not until once during service, we were singing a hymn, and when we sang the words, “God’s grace is sufficient for me,” the tears began to fall. I thought of myself, entering this world naked and yet had been given so many blessings and so much love, I was moved and felt filled in a way that has never happened before. At the end of the song, my heart was uncharacteristically at peace, and the tears kept pouring down. I felt the realness of God, like a child, who had left home for many years, now finding herself tightly held in her father’s arms. My heart was seized by both gratitude and repentance. A few days later, it was Easter, and as I watched the film “The Passion of the Christ,” each whip-inflicted wound on Jesus’ body shook me to the core. I could not imagine that pain, could not imagine that shame.