Josiah（孫兒建橋）

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

One of my grandpa’s favorite maxims, with which he applied to amusing effect upon many a family occasions. I never quite understood what it was about that classic anecdote that he found so gratifying, but then I do not know him as well as others would. I only came to know him during his last eighteen years on this Earth. What I conjectured about my grandfather early on during this time span was composed mainly through accounts I was told. He was a great emissary of God, a champion of the faith, a humble missionary. He was all these things, yet these titles bore meaning outside of my personal experience with him. In the several occasions I could recall spending time in his presence, he could be defined as an ordinary man harboring an extraordinary purpose. Honorable and distinguished in appearance, yet humble and meek in manner. He was a man possessing ironclad sensibilities who, I always felt, emitted, perhaps involuntarily, a proud affect (strengthened by the fact that age had not reduced his height) which was justified by his great heart and willingness to serve. He preferred listening to speaking, but when he did find the occasion to bless us with his thoughts, everyone earnestly listened.

On this celestial body, temporary keep of humanity, I only had eighteen years to know my grandfather but I doubt, even with the rest of my existence here I can come to fathom the extent of his legacy. The tasks and works for which God accomplished through the life of this man serves as a constant indication of what it means to contentedly live a life blessed with glorious purpose for Christ. For my grandfather, death is just a memory and the work of life is done. When we meet again on eternity’s shore, I will come to know him and see him differently, free from the restraining harnesses life on Earth placed upon him, free to praise his God and Savior forevermore. But until then, I will profoundly miss his presence and contemplate the work of his life.

原載於《恩典懷清輝：滕近輝牧師紀念特刊》，頁40。