“God’s Eternal Ink”「上帝的墨水筆」

【編輯室】

I dreamed I was in heaven. Where an angel kept God’s book.

我夢到我在天堂，有一位天使正在記錄著生命冊。

He was writing so intently. I just had to take a look.

他寫得的好專心，使我想一窺究竟。

It was not, at first, his writing. That made me stop and think.

起初吸引我的，並非天使所寫的內容。

But the fluid in the bottle. That was marked eternal ink “eternal ink”

而是墨水瓶中那個被標示著：「永恆的墨水」。

This ink was most amazing.

這種墨水實在是太神奇了。

Dark black upon his blotter. But as it touched the parchment.

剛寫下去時是深黑色的，但當它一碰到生命冊裏的羊皮紙，

It became as clear as water.

它的顏色就變的如水般透明。

The angel kept on writing……

天使不停的寫，不停的寫….

But as quickly as a wink.

但奇怪的是….

The words were disappearing. With that strange eternal ink

這神奇墨水筆寫下去的字，消失的速度如一眨眼般。

The angel took no notice. But kept writing on and on.

天使旁若無人不停的寫寫寫….

He Turned each page and filled it. Till all its space was gone.

他翻動著每一頁不停的寫，直到每一處的空白都填滿為止。

I thought he wrote to no avail, His efforts were so vain.

我覺得他真是徒勞無功，所有的力氣都白費了。

For he wrote a thousand pages. That he’d never read again.

因為他再也沒辦法回頭看這辛辛苦苦寫出的上千頁文字。

And as I watched and wondered that. This awesome sight was mine.

在狐疑中….

I actually saw a word stay black As it dried upon the line.

我終於看到了一個黑色的字出現在透明的字行之中。

The angel wrote and I thought I saw a look of satisfaction.

在天使的臉上我看到了一絲滿意的眼神。

At last he had some print to show For all his earnest action.

終於在他那麼認真的書寫中有點東西可以展示了。

A line or two dried dark and stayed As black as black can be,

有一兩行的文字呈現出黑色的墨水，

But strangely the next paragraph Became invisible to see.

下一個段落又成為透明的顏色，但奇怪的是，又沒有辦法看見了。

The book was getting fuller, The angel’s records true,

本子越來越滿，天使仍然認真的在寫….

But most of it was blank, with just a few words coming through.

但放眼望去，一片空白只有少數幾個字穿插在空白中，

I knew there was some reason,

我知道裡頭一定有些原因，

But as hard as I could think I couldn’t grasp the significance of that eternal ink.

但我再怎麼努力想也想不透這個神奇墨水的奧秘。

The mystery burned within me,

我真的好想，好想知道。

And I finally dared to ask the angel to explain to me of his amazing task.

終於我鼓起勇氣問天使，請他解釋一下這個奧秘。

And what heard was frightful as the angel turned his head. He looked directly at me,

天使轉過頭來，定睛的看著我，他所說的令我好害怕。

And this is what he said.

I know you stand and wonder at what my writing’s worth.

他說：「我知道你很懷疑我所做的事價值為何？！」

But God has told me to record the lives of those on earth

但上帝吩咐我記錄下人類生命中的點點滴滴….

The book that I am filling Is an accurate account Of every word and action And to what they do amount And since you have been watching.

在這本書中，我確實的記錄了人類的每句話，每個舉動，因為你在看…

I must tell you what is true;

The details of my journal Are the strict accounts of YOU.

我必須告訴你實話，本子中的細節全部都是對於你鉅細靡遺的記錄，

The Lord asked me to watch you As each day you worked and played.

上帝要求我鑒察你工作時，娛樂時。

I saw you as you went to church, I saw you as you prayed.

你去教堂時，我看著你，你禱告時，我看著你。

But I was told to document Your life through all the week.

但我必須要記錄你日復一日的生活，

I wrote when you were proud and bold I wrote when you were meek.

我寫下了你的驕傲自大，也寫下了你的溫柔。

I recorded all your attitudes Whether they were good or bad.

不論是好的態度或是壞的態度，我都記錄了下來。

I was sorry that I had to write The things that make God sad

我很抱歉，我必須寫下一些讓上帝難過的事情，

So now I’ll tell the wonder Of this eternal ink.

現在我要告訴你這個神奇墨水的奧秘。

For the reason for its mystery Should make you stop and think.

這個奧秘可以讓你好好思考其中的意義：

This ink that God created To help me keep my journal Will only keep a record of Things that are eternal.

上帝所創造的這個墨水，是幫助我只要記錄下可以存到永遠的事情。

So much of life is wasted On things that matter not So instead of my erasing.

如此一來，我就不用再刪除那些生命中毫無意義的事。

Smudging ink and ugly blot.

把本子刪的烏漆摸黑的，

I just keep writing faithfully and Let the ink do all the rest.

我所要做的是忠誠的記錄下所有的事情，

For it is able to decide What’s useless and what is best

剩下的就由墨水來決定什麼才是有意義的。

And God ordained that as I write Of all you do and say,

上帝照著我所記錄下來的來審判，

Your deeds that count for nothing Will just disappear away

而你所做的，若沒什麼意義，自然的，就會消失不見。

When books are opened someday, As sure as heaven is true,

某天當生命冊被打開，天堂真實地座落在你眼前時，

The Lord’s eternal ink will tell What mattered most to you.

上帝的神奇墨水將會分辨什麼和你最有關係，

If you just lived to please yourself The pages will be bare,

如果你只為了自己活，你的扉頁將是空白的，

And God will issue no reward For you when you get there.

等你到了這裡，上帝將不會給你任何獎賞。

In fact, you will be embarrassed You will hang your head in shame.

事實上，你會感到羞愧，你將會把你的頭浸在羞恥之中。

Because you did not give yourself In love to Jesus’ Name.

因為你並沒有委身於基督耶穌的愛裡，

Yet maybe there will be a few Recorded lines that stayed.

雖然或許有幾行字仍然留著，

That showed the times you truly cared Sincerely loved and prayed

代表著你曾真正的關心，真誠的去愛與禱告。

But you will always wonder,

但你仍舊會驚嘆，

As you enter heaven’s door

How much more glad you would have been If only you’d done more.

如果你做的更多，當你踏入天堂時，那喜樂將會是何等的大。

When I heard the angel’s story,

聽完了天使的一番話，

I fell down and wept and cried For as yet I still was dreaming

我仆倒在地上，放聲大哭，雖然這只是一場夢。

I hadn’t really died And I said: Oh angel tell the Lord That soon as I awake

我還沒有真正的死亡，我說：天使啊！告訴上帝，等會我一醒來，

I will live my life for Jesus I will do all for His dear sake.

我會為主而活，我願意為神慈愛的緣故作任何事，

I’ll give in full surrender I’ll do all He wants me to do,

我甘心降服在祂面前，願意照著祂的旨意而行，

I’ll turn my back on self and sin And whatever isn’t true,

我要棄絕不真實的自我和罪，

And though the way seems long and rough I promise to endure.

雖然這條路看來似乎又長又崎嶇，我都願意承受。

I am determined to pursue the things That are holy, clean, and pure.

並且一生追尋聖潔，清心，與單純的事物。

With Jesus as my helper I will win lost souls to Thee.

藉著耶穌是我的幫助，我要為祂贏得失喪的靈魂，

For I know that they will live with Christ For all eternity,

因為我知道，他們將和上帝一同活在永恆裡。

And that’s what really matters,

而這才是真正重要的。

When my life on earth is gone That I will stand before the Lord

當在世的年歲已盡，我會站在神的面前，

And hear Him say, well done.

才可以聽見神說：做的好！

For is it really worth it As my life lies at the brink?

難道使我的生命濱臨在危險邊緣是有價值的嗎？

And I realize that God keeps books With His eternal ink,

此時我才了解上帝為什麼要用永恆的墨水來記錄生命冊。

Should all my life be focused On things that turn to dust?

難道我應該把我的生命浪費在轉眼成空的事上？

From this point on I’ll serve the Lord;

不！因此我要服事神，

I can, I will, I must!

我能，我要，我必須這麼做！

I will NOT send blank pages Up to God’s majestic throne,

我將不會讓一空白的扉頁，呈現在上帝威嚴的寶座前，

For where that record’s going now Is my eternal home.

因為記錄所去的地方，就是我永恆的家，

I am giving all to Jesus.

我將我所擁有的獻給耶穌，

I now have seen the link.

我已經看到了上帝和生命的關連。

For I saw an angel write my life With God’s Eternal Ink.

因為我看到了一位天使握著上帝的神奇墨水筆，在記錄著我的生命。