2020 07 17
作者 Article by: Joel Chiu
早在十六世紀時,馬丁路德發表他對身處疫情肆虐時會採取的態度。大慨是:他會懇切地求上帝保護;恰當地服用藥物;避開那些不是必須去的地方和見的人,以免受到感染,從而造成感染他人的可能,並因自己的大意而導致別人死亡; 如果上帝想帶他去他那裏,上帝一定不會找不到他的,他已經滿足了上帝對他的期望,所以即使他的死或他人的死都不用他承擔任何責任。但是如果有人需要他,他將不會避開任何地方或人,會樂意地前去。那是一種敬畏上帝的信心,因為那樣既不是輕率的、也不是有勇無謀、更不是試探上帝。
現時我們看見不少國民,都負責任地為保護其他人而肯居家減少外出;前線醫護人員,甚至本國的軍人,所採取的態度已經一如馬丁路德所說那樣,勇於為人。 新型冠狀病毒病在超越我們的世界面前重新顯露我們是如何的脆弱。單單就生命而言,我們最多衹可充其量是自己生命的看守者,但最終,那甚至也不到我們話事。基於幻覺,我們常常深信,世界就是我們想要的那樣。但是,世界沒有依從我們的願望。在許多方面,它根本忽略我們,傳染病也是如此。我們須時不時地忍受現實無動於衷的殘忍真理。痛苦是我們在個人生活中經常經歷的事情,就好像,在愉悅與痛苦,在愛與困惑,在成功與失敗及在生與死的循環中,我們身處不利一方時那樣。 可以稍為寬慰的是最近看見疫情有舒緩的跡象。我們的禮拜堂有望在兩個月後,可以小心謹慎地漸漸回復公禱崇拜。
Back in the sixteenth century, talking about whether one may flee from a deadly pandemic, Martin Luther once mentioned: “Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbour needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” (Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II) We have seen Canadians stayed home in order to responsibly protect themselves and fellow citizens. Front-line medical and care personnel as well as those from the military acted selflessly like what Martin Luther said. COVID-19 exposes our vulnerability in the face of a world that exceeds us. With respect to life alone, at our best we are keepers of ours, but in the end even our own lives are not what we expect them to be. We are often convinced by illusions that the world is what we want it to be. But the world has not followed our desires. In many respects, it simply ignores us, as does infectious diseases. From time to time, we must suffer the merciless truth of the indifference of reality, as we are doing today. Suffering is something we often experience in our personal lives, just like when we are on the downside of cycles of pleasure and pain, love and loss, success and failure, and life and death. It is comforting that recent announcements from various government authorities reveal that COVID-19 has got lax. Because of that, St. E’s will after two months cautiously start in-person corporate worship again.