One day a small oppening appeared on a

在草地對開的小樹上， 掛著一顆虫繭。小樹旁有 一個人守候著，且已守候 多時，專心觀察虫繭的每 一微小變化 。 虫繭終於開了一個 小孔 ，小蝴蝶也開始慢 慢、吃力地鑽出了一點 … ”One day, a small oppening appeared on a cocoon; a man sat and watched for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

突然，一 切動作停頓。 小蝴蝶似乎耗 盡體力，無法 破繭而出。 Then, it seems to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could not go any further.

守在樹旁的人看在眼裡， 心底焦急，決定出手相助。 他拿出剪刀，輕而易舉地 把虫繭外膜剪開；讓小蝴蝶鬆 容地爬出來。 可是，爬了出來的小蝴蝶， 身體萎縮，雙翼內摺。 So the man decided to help the butterfly: he took a pair of scissors and opened the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a withered body, it was tiny and shrivelled wings.

守在樹旁的人繼續 凝神觀察，等待。他希 望見到小蝴蝶伸展雙翼， 讓雙翼擴張，變得堅挺， 承載身體飛翔。 The man continued to watch because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would open, enlarge and expand, to be able to support the butterfly’s body, and become firm.

可是，無論他等 待多久，小蝴蝶都沒 有振翅高飛。 小蝴蝶從此只能 帶著萎縮的翅膀和身 軀，爬行度日。 Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a withered body and shrivelled wings. It never was able to fly.

這個人顯然有一副 好心腸，也有良好願望。 可是，他不知道，小蝴 蝶要經過掙扎，要奮力 由小孔鑽出，才能把身 軀內的液體輸送到兩邊 翅膀，到完全擺脫繭膜 時，才有能力自由飛翔。 What the man, in his kindness and his goodwill did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening, were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

活著要經過掙扎。 照顧為有助成長。 免除掙扎不但無助 人的成長，反而使人變 得殘缺不全，永遠失去 飛翔的 能力。 (完) Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. Never been able to fly.