Standing firm 站穩

（中文版本在本頁下半部分）

洋紫蘇
Coleus Scutellarioides

      Today is Good Friday. The article for today in 'Our Daily Bread' was 'Standing Firm'. One of the reflection questions at the bottom of this article was, "What does standing for Christ look like in your neighborhood ?"

      Athough I live in an area with religious freedom and it's hard to imagine being persecuted for my belief, yet in the present Hong Kong, varied opinions and ideologies often affect people's values and beliefs. We also need to withstand some unchangeable realities. So it's not easy to uphold our faith. Although we haven't come to the degree of being  persecuted, my heart is often filled with conflicts and unease. 

      Sometimes, it's also necessary to state our standpoint or encourage others. This is actually an example of standing firmly for Christ. The principles are the same.

      Most importantly, one must have clear-minded judgment, a firm will, perseverance, and courage. 

      The plant in the photo is Coleus Scutellarioides, the pattern of its leaves made me think of The Cross, that's why I chose it for this article written on Good Friday. It's a very special plant with such orderly and patterned leaves.

今天是耶穌受難日，

靈命日糧的文章《堅定站立》

(原文是'Standing firm')的底部，

有一條供讀者反思的問題：

「在你所處的環境中，

你要如何為基督堅定站立？」

這令我想到，

雖然我們居住在信仰自由的地區，

難以想像在信仰上受到逼迫是一種甚麼境況；

但身處現今的香港，

我們的價值觀、信仰觀，

時常受到種種言論及理念所衝擊，

也需要常常忍受種種無法改變的現狀，

在這樣的情況下生活，

要堅守信仰真理並不容易。

雖然未到被逼害的程度，

但心裏常常充滿矛盾不安，

有時亦需向人表明立場或勸勉他人，

這樣其實也是其中一種為基督堅定站立的形式，

原理豈不相同？

最重要的是清晰明辨、意志堅定、恒久忍耐與具備勇氣。

https://traditional-odb.org/2020/04/10/%e5%a0%85%e5%ae%9a%e7%ab%99%e7%ab%8b-2/

備註：

圖片中的植物稱為洋紫蘇，又稱彩葉草，屬唇形科。有次在公園看見它，被它的顏色與對稱的葉片所吸引，並使我聯想到十字架。

Reference 參考：

https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/彩葉草

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