文學與人生 Dream sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.

"The Woodcarver"木雕師

David held the bat steady. I have to get a hit, he thought. I just have to! If I get out, our team will lose the game and be disqualified from the tournament. The ball sailed toward David. He swung as hard as he could, but the ball bounced slowly toward the pitcher. A moment later, the game was over.

大衛穩穩握住球棒.想著:”我必須要打擊成功.一定要成功!假如我出局,我們球隊就會輸掉且喪失比賽資格”.球飛向大衛.他盡了全力揮棒,但球卻慢慢彈回到投手那裡。不久後,球賽結束。

David felt terrible. "I blew it!" he moaned as he rode home with his dad and older brother Sam. "It's my fault we lost." Dad and Sam tried to tell him that wasn't true, but David wasn't convinced. "You just don't understand," he said sadly.

大衛感到糟糕透了。”我搞砸了!”他和爹地及哥哥開車回家時悲歎不已。說：“都是我的錯我們才輸掉球賽。”爹地和哥哥山姆試著告訴他這不是真的，但大衛沒被說服。傷心地說:”你們不了解。” 

That afternoon, David and Sam went to a wood-carving show. They wandered around, admiring the many items on display-flowers, ducks, fish, and other animals. "I'm going to learn to carve like this," announced David. "Look at that Canada goose. It's cool." He looked at the tag. "Jim Barker- Grand Prize Winner," he read.

那天下午,大衛和山姆參加一場木雕秀。他們到處逛逛,欣賞著展示的許多作品-花、鴨子、魚以及其他的動物。大衛宣稱,“我要學習這樣的雕刻，看這個加拿大鵝。好酷!”看一下標籤，讀著:”吉姆巴克爾，大獎的得主。”

"I wonder if that's made from one piece of wood," murmured Sam.

山姆低聲說:”我懷疑這是用一塊木頭做成的。”

"If you look closely at the neck, you can see where two pieces of wood were glued together," said a man standing behind the boys.

假如你們仔細看牠的脖子，可以看到這是兩塊木頭黏在一起的“站在他們身後的男人說。

Sam studied the carving. "Oh, I see it now, but that line hardly shows," he said. "I wonder what kind of wood this is."

山姆研究著雕刻。說:”喔，我現在看到了，但這條線幾乎看不見，我想知道這是用哪一種木頭做的。”

"White pine," said the man. "It's winter cut and air-dried for two years."

男人說“白松木。”那是在冬季砍伐的，且經過兩年空氣風乾。”

"You know a lot about this goose," said David.

大衛說:”你知道許多關於這隻鵝的知識。”

The man smiled. "I'm Jim Barker," he said.

男人說:”我就是吉姆布克爾。”

"Oh," said Sam, "that explains it. You carved this!"

“喔”山姆說，”難怪你都知道，你是雕刻的主人啊!”

On the way home David's thoughts sifted through the day's activities. "It was cool to see all those woodcarvings this afternoon," he said, "but I still wish I hadn't blown it at the ball game this morning."

回家的路上，大衛仔細回想今天發生的事。”今天下午能看到那些雕刻品真是很棒，但我依然希望我早上沒有搞砸球賽。“

"Lots of guys got out when they were up to bat-not just you," Sam told him. "It's the team that lost. Like Dad and I said, it's not your fault personally."

山姆告訴他“很多人上場去打也都出局了-你不是唯一的一個呀，是球隊輸了!如爹地和我說的，這不是你個人的錯。”

David sighed. "You just don't know how I feel," he insisted.

大衛嘆息。堅持道：“你就是不知道我的感覺呀!”

"Hey, listen," said Sam. "Mr. Barker knew all about the goose because he made it, right? Well, God made you. Maybe I don't understand, but God does. He knows all about you-even how you feel." Sam grinned as he added, "And that should make you feel better."

山姆說：“你呀，聽著！巴克爾先生知道所有關於鵝的一切，因為他是創作的人， 對不對?那麼，神　創造你。也許我不懂你，但神了解你。祂知道所有關於你的事-包括你的感覺”，接著又咧嘴說:”這樣應該會讓你感覺好一點了吧!”

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Do you feel like no one understands you? Someone does! The Lord made you! You are His creation, and He knows exactly how you feel. He knows how you feel when you try to do something new and it doesn't turn out the way you'd like. He understands when you feel sad and also when you're happy. He understands your feelings when you "blow it" and also when a task goes well. Talk to Him about your problems and doubts and also about your joys and accomplishments. He understands!

 那麼你呢?

你是否覺得沒有人可以了解你?事實上祂了解你!上帝創造了你！你是祂所創造的，祂完全知道你的感覺如何。祂知道你想嘗試什麼新的事物，但是沒有如你所願的實現。他知道你的悲傷和快樂。他知道你搞砸某事以及成就了某事的心情。對祂說出你的問題和懷疑，還有你的喜悅和成就。上帝知道你!

TODAY'S KEY VERSE:

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14

今日的重要經節：

我要稱謝你、因我受造奇妙可畏．你的作為奇妙．這是我心深知道的。

詩篇 139:14