交通灯坏了！

（以赛亚书 11:3）

我来到交通灯前等着过马路，随手按了行人灯的按钮。灯不亮，原来灯坏了。于是，我仍继续站在行人灯旁边等着。

身后来了一个年轻人，走过我身边的时候，看了我一眼（更正确的说是“白了我一眼”），脸色很难看。他随即走到我身边的行人灯，很用力的拍了几下按钮。那一瞬间，我接收到他没有说出口的讯息：“Aunty，你在做什么？为什么不按按钮？”但是，就在他很用力“拍打”按钮之后，他瞪着按钮楞了两秒，随后就转身默默走到离我三、四步的地方。白眼不翻了，脸也不臭了… 坦白说，我完全不怪他，因为我自己也曾经因为“没人按”行人灯而不高兴。不瞒你说，我也确实有“错怪其他行人”的尴尬经验。

其实我们都太着急了。因为着急，就没有先把事情弄清楚；因为着急，就没有给别人机会解释；因为着急，就马上以自己的经历作为标准来断定事情；因为着急，我们就迫不及待的要定别人的错误；因为着急，我们就没有考虑事情的发展其实是会有其他可能性的。

原来，眼睛所见的都未必就是事实或真相，但是有多少时候我们偏偏就很习惯的去“以为”，也很坚信自己的“以为”就是真的、就是对的、就一定是事实；又有多少时候我们也因为这些“以为”就作出不恰当甚至不正确的反应（翻白眼，给脸色），结果在发现真相的时候，真正尴尬的却是自己。

我祈求上帝，打开我们的眼睛，让我们不要只是看见事物的外表，而是同时能看见外表以下的“真相”。也求主帮助我们，不要着急；在还没有看见真相之前，不要妄下定论，免得误会了别人，更尴尬了自己。

以马内利！

主的使女，
秀娟

Pedestrian Crossing Lights – Faulty!
(Isaiah 11:3)

I was at a pedestrian crossing. Upon pressing the button to cross, I found that the switch was faulty. Nonetheless, I stood there waiting.

A young man came along. He walked past me and then looked at me (more precisely, he glared at me.). He pressed the button hard and furious several times, displaying his unhappiness. Even though no words were exchanged, I could sense that he wanted to say this to me: “Aunty, what are you doing? Why didn’t you press the button?”. After multiple attempts of vigorous pressing, he looked at the button and the light post. Then, quietly, he moved a few steps away from me. He was no longer rolling his eyes. His face was no longer sour… Honestly, I didn’t blame him. I was once in a similar situation. I was unhappy when people beside me at the pedestrian crossing had not pressed the button. It was embarrassing that I had also “blamed others” for not pressing the traffic light button.

We are always rushing. Rushing without clarifying; rushing without giving others a chance to explain; rushing using our own standards and experience to judge; Because we are always rushing, we are quick to pass judgement on others; Because we are always rushing, we neglect to consider other possibilities.

In reality, what we see with our naked eyes may not always be the truth. Often times we are in the habit of making false assumptions and drawing hasty conclusions. We think that our assumptions are accurate and absolute truths. There may be many instances where our assumptions lead us to react negatively (i.e. displaying displeasure, rolling our eyes). However, we are embarrassed when the truth is revealed.

I pray that God will open our eyes. He will not let us judge when we have only scratched the surface. Instead, he will enable us to look deeper and discover the truth. May God also help us to slow down, not to rush so that we will not draw hasty conclusions and accuse others wrongly and in turn embarrass ourselves.

His Servant Maid,
Lena
(Translated by Mr & Mrs Timothy Tung)