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經文：「你們坐在這裡，等我到那邊去禱告。」（太26:36） 在危急的時刻被遺留在後方，是很難堪的情況；曾經在客西馬尼園裡，十一個門徒中有八個被留在後方甚麼都不做。只有主耶穌往前去禱告；彼得、雅各、約翰在中間儆醒，其餘都在後方等候。照我想來，在後方的門徒一定會抱怨。他們雖然身處花園，卻只是人在其中；對於耕種與栽培無分無關。那時正是危急的時刻，一個緊要的關頭；可是又不能擅自妄動。 我們可能也有這種失望的經歷；也許當時正有許多服事的機會；有些弟兄姊妹正派往前方；有些也已到達中間；只有我們仍留在後方待命。或者因為疾病、或者因為缺乏、或者因為誹謗；但無論甚麼原因，我們確實受到攔阻，也為此深感悲哀，並不明白為甚麼不能有分於神的事工。這似乎是非常不公平：既然允許我們進了花園，卻又不分派我們職分。 但是我的心靈呀，應當安靜，情況並非所想的那樣悲觀，你並非無分於主的事工！想想看，主的花園裡難道只有走的或站的地方麼？不，裡面還有一處是專為那些必須坐著的人所預備的。 就像是一個動詞有三種語態（Voices）：有主動詞（Active），被動詞（Passive），不及物動詞（Neuter）。為基督活著的「活」字，也有三個位格：主動詞，往前方奮戰；被動詞，在中間報告前方戰事的進展；不及物動詞，既不能打仗，又不能看戰情，只能在後方待命。 如果你今天是守在後方，請記得，那告訴你說「你坐在這裡」的，正是基督。你所坐的地方並不是「摔跤處」，也不是「儆醒處」，乃是「等候處」。就像許多人，主把他們放在世上，並不是要他們成就偉大的事工，也不是要他們背負重大的擔子，乃是要他們單單活著；他們是那「不及物動詞」。 這些人是沒有使命的花朵；他們用不著裝飾花環，也用不著點綴餐桌。他們雖然沒有被彼得、雅各、約翰看見，他們卻已經讓主耶穌喜悅了。他們的香氣與美麗，已經足夠讓主喜樂。親愛的讀者，如果你正是這樣的一朵花，又何須埋怨？--選 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會
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Scripture: "Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder" (Matt. 26:36). It is a hard thing to be kept in the background at a time of crisis. In the Garden of Gethsemane eight of the eleven disciples were left to do nothing. Jesus went to the front to pray; Peter, James and John went to the middle to watch; the rest sat down in the rear to wait. Methinks that party in the rear must have murmured. They were in the garden, but that was all; they had no share in the cultivation of its flowers. It was a time of crisis, a time of storm and stress; and yet they were not suffered to work. You and I have often felt that experience, that disappointment. There has arisen, mayhap a great opportunity for Christian service. Some are sent to the front; some are sent to the middle. But we are made to lie down in the rear. Perhaps sickness has come; perhaps poverty has come; perhaps obloquy has come; in any case we are hindered and we feel sore. We do not see why we should be excluded from a part in the Christian life. It seems like an unjust thing that, seeing we have been allowed to enter the garden, no path should be assigned to us there. Be still, my soul, it is not as thou deemest! Thou art not excluded from a part of the Christian life. Thinkest thou that the garden of the Lord has only a place for those who walk and for those who stand! Nay, it has a spot consecrated to those who are compelled to sit. There are three voices in a verb--active, passive and neuter. So, too, there are three voices in Christ's verb "to live." There are the active, watching souls, who go to the front, and struggle till the breaking of the day. There are the passive, watching souls, who stand in the middle, and report to others the progress of the fight. But there are also the neuter souls--those who can neither fight, nor be spectators of the fight, but have simply to lie down. When that experience comes to thee, remember, thou are not shunted. Remember it is Christ that says, "Sit ye here." Thy spot in the garden has also been consecrated. It has a special name. It is not "the place of wrestling," nor "the place of watching," but "the place of waiting." There are lives that come into this world neither to do great work nor to bear great burdens, but simply to be; they are the neuter verbs. They are the flowers of the garden which have had no active mission. They have wreathed no chaplet; they have graced no table; they have escaped the eye of Peter and James and John. But they have gladdened the sight of Jesus. By their mere perfume, by their mere beauty, they have brought Him joy; by the very preservation of their loveliness in the valley they have lifted the Master's heart. Thou needst not murmur shouldst thou be one of these flowers! --Selected ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
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