"It is good for me that I have been afflicted" (Ps. 119:71)
It is a remarkable circumstance that the most brilliant colors of plants are to be seen on the highest mountains, in spots that are most exposed to the wildest weather. The brightest lichens and mosses, the loveliest gems of wild flowers, abound far up on the bleak, storm-scalped peak.
One of the richest displays of organic coloring I ever beheld was near the summit of Mount Chenebettaz, a hill about 10,000 feet high, immediately above the great St. Bernard Hospice. The whole face of an extensive rock was covered with a most vivid yellow lichen which shone in the sunshine like the golden battlement of an enchanted castle.
There, in that lofty region, amid the most frowning desolation, exposed to the fiercest tempest of the sky, this lichen exhibited a glory of color such as it never showed in the sheltered valley. I have two specimens of the same lichen before me while I write these lines, one from the great St. Bernard, and the other from the wall of a Scottish castle, deeply embossed among sycamore trees; and the difference in point of form and coloring between them is most striking.
The specimen nurtured amid the wild storms of the mountain peak is of a lovely primrose hue, and is smooth in texture and complete in outline, while the specimen nurtured amid the soft airs and the delicate showers of the lowland valley is of a dim rusty hue, and is scurfy in texture, and broken in outline.
And is it not so with the Christian who is afflicted, tempest-tossed, and not comforted? Till the storms and vicissitudes of God's providence beat upon him again and again, his character appears marred and clouded; but trials clear away the obscurity, perfect the outlines of his disposition, and give brightness and blessing to his life. ━selected
Amidst my list of blessings infinte,
Stands this the foremost, that my heart has bled;
For all I bless Thee, most for the severe.
─Hugh Macmillan
十月一日
「我受苦是与我有益」 （诗一一九:71）
在这里有一件值得注意的事情：最鲜艳的花草是生长在荒野的高山上的。最鲜明的苔藓、最美丽的野花，都长在荒凉光秃的高峰巅上。
我个人所看见的最艳丽的颜色是在一个一万尺高的山顶上。山面长满了金黄色的苔藓，在日光下闪耀，非常美丽夺目。
你看，在那样高的地方，那样荒凉的地方，苔藓受尽狂风暴雨的击打，反呈露出这样灿烂的颜色来，岂不奇怪？我有两个苔藓的标本，一个是从高山上采集来的，一个是从城墙上篨悬树中采集来的；这两个标本是的形状和颜色，有极显著的不同。
生长在山顚上风雨中的那个标本是樱红色的，质地光滑，轮廓完美；生长在低地上温气中的那个标本是暗黑色的，质地粗糙，轮廓破碎。
受苦的信徒阿，你不是受尽了风雨的摧残吗？你不是失尽了所有的安慰吗？ 神预备了风雨一次一次击打你，叫你的外貌变得毁损阴沉；但是试炼一过，黑暗就要变成光明，你就要得到非常的祝福。━选
在我所列永世幸福的项目中,
第一项是:我的心曾流过血,
我最感谢的是,神绝不放纵。
─麦克密