God Knows--at the gate of the year

新年到了，面向未來我們不知道將來如何，詩人鼓勵我們交託和仰望，在黑夜中與上帝遨遊星空之奇妙。

God Knows by Minnie Louise Haskins 

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:What need our little lifeOur human life to know,If God hath comprehension?In all the dizzy strifeOf things both high and low,God hideth His intention.

God knows. His willIs best. The stretch of yearsWhich wind ahead, so dimTo our imperfect vision,Are clear to God. Our fearsAre premature; In Him,All time hath full provision.

Then rest: untilGod moves to lift the veilFrom our impatient eyes,When, as the sweeter featuresOf Life’s stern face we hail,Fair beyond all surmiseGod’s thought around His creaturesOur mind shall fill.

沉思於失去了書寫的年代

這是一個美麗的早上。非常平靜，坐在辦公室里，思考文字的價值與功能。在電腦化的時代，連打字都不用的時代，文字還有什麼作用？人還願意書寫文字嗎？人還願意看文字嗎？我想這是每一個關心文字的讀書人都會問的我一個問題。生活在電腦化的時代，網絡已經迅速取代了傳統的媒體，互聯網時代的書寫，所為何事？這是一個值得深思的問題。世界好像繞了一圈，回到柏拉圖的問題上。柏拉圖曾經嚴厲地批判文字的發展，認為文字摧毀了人的記憶能力。道家的哲學也認為可以書寫的道，就已經不是恆常之道。從古到今天思想家對於文字的限制不是沒有警覺的。然而，就是因為書寫的限制性，在互聯網時代文字的書寫就要再一次的從平民老百姓的生活世界，升華為一種菁英的價值。在民主化的社會，強調菁英的論調在強調「平等」的年代很不討好，但是這應該是更貼近實際的描述。的確如此，文字是留給菁英階級的傳播工具。在影像取代了文字的世界，書寫與閱讀就是留給精英文化人的樂園, 在你看到這篇文章的時候，你應譲自豪，因為在近七十億的人群中，你是稀有的動物，你還在閱讀和思考。