My mother's life has impressed me with her kindness and patience.
Love. She loved people, loved animals, and loved flowers and plants. During the Agrarian Reform, when fighting local tyrants and dividing the land, my dad was the district head. Mom used to hide the people who were attacked or even those who were sentenced to death. She kept them alive out of “principle." Afterward she didn’t remember the people that she stood up for, but their descendants never forget and think of her with gratitude. Our home was also a "comfort zone" for stray cats and dogs. When it was time for meals, groups of cats would come to find food and stray dogs would also come to have meals for free with their own puppies...
Patience. My father was a communist district governor during the War of Liberation. The Kuomintang authority offered a reward for my father's arrest. But they couldn't catch him. So they put my mom in prison, locking her up for a month. Mom just kept saying "Lord!" and even "Thank the Lord!". She endured everything and said nothing. She was released in the end. During the extreme Cultural Revolution period, due to my "capitalist rightist" father, my mom lived a hard life. Her internal body heat led to her getting acute nephritis, but she endured the pain and didn’t say anything. She still kept referring to the "Lord!", "My God!" and "Jesus!"
Although she could not recite relevant scriptures, nor did she explicitly indicate that this was the result of her faith in Jesus, her words and deeds proved her faith.
This was my Christian mother, and she influenced me deeply. She was critically ill at the age of 84. I was out of town, and when I hurried back, mom had been in a coma for two or three days. I pressed my face to her cheek as before and whispered that I was back. At this moment, my nephew exclaimed, "My grandmother’s eyes are open!" I saw mom slightly open her eyes, and then close them again. My tears began to flow. I know that she was waiting for me...
After my mother rested in the Lord’s embrace, my younger brother and younger sister asked me: "Elder brother, how would you like to remember your mother?" I looked at the Bible she kept by her bed all year round and said to my sister and brother, "Give me mother's Bible. I want nothing else." In this way, I received my first Bible. Although I had not yet been baptized, my mother's faith was still rooted in my heart and influenced me. This Bible, which I left at my desk to read in my spare time, opened the door to my spiritual journey to the Lord. In the days that followed, after I was baptized, I had several versions of the Bible, but this Bible was the most precious spiritual treasure that I owned because it is the one that my mother left me. Sometimes I would put my face on the cover of the Bible, cry, pray, and think of my mother who brought me close to the Lord.
The power of faith is infinite. From childhood to adulthood, we have gone through all kinds of trials and tribulations and peaceful times as well. In good times and in bad times, the grace of the Lord is always with us. Perhaps we cannot see or touch it with our eyes or hands, just as disciples doubt the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the amazing grace of the Lord is always there. With silent grace, care, and protection, the Lord is always in our hearts.
I still remember that when I was in my post before my retirement, the boss of the unit once said to the two middle-level cadres who were in conflict, "Don't talk to me about your conflicts. You should go to President Wu (I am the vice president of the company). He is a Christian and believes in God. He is the fairest person. You shall go and find him." That was the most gratifying thing anyone could say about me. It is not that how excellent I am, but that I do my best to witness to God in my daily words and deeds, to the glory of the Lord.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
主在我心中：“把妈的圣经给我吧”
我母亲的一生给我最深刻的印象就是慈爱、忍耐。
慈爱。老人家爱人、爱动物、爱花草。土改打土豪分田地的时候，老爸是区长。老妈曾经“无原则”的把应该挨斗争甚至是判刑的人藏匿起来，保住性命。事后她忘记了，其后人却念念不忘、感激不尽；我们家是流浪猫、流浪狗的“安乐窝”，一到饭顿，一群群的猫前来觅食、流浪狗带着自己的小崽儿也来蹭饭……
忍耐。爸爸在解放战争期间是共产党的区长。国民党当局悬赏抓我的爸爸。抓不到，就把老妈抓进监狱，关了一个月，老妈只会说“主啊！”，甚至说“感谢主！”忍耐不语，什么也没有招供，最后被释放；文革时期的极左年代，老妈不可避免的受到“走资派”爸爸的牵连，她上火得了急性肾炎，但她忍耐不语，还是说：“主啊！”、“上帝啊！”、“耶稣啊！”
老妈她虽然没有背诵圣经的有关经文，也没有明确的表明这是她信仰耶稣的果效，但是她的言行却证明了自己的信仰。
这就是我的基督徒老妈，对我影响至深。她在84岁的时候病危。我当时在外地，当我急匆匆的赶回来的时候，老妈已经昏迷了两三天。我还像以前一样，把脸贴在她的面颊，轻轻地说我回来了。这个时候，我的侄子喊道：“我奶睁眼睛了！”只见老妈微睁双目，然后闭上眼睛，一行眼泪流了出来。我知道，她在等我……
老妈安息主怀以后，弟妹问我：“三哥，你要点什么作纪念？”我看着常年放在她床头的那本圣经，对弟妹说：“把妈的圣经给我吧，其它的我什么都不要。”就这样，我拥有了人生的第一本圣经。虽然当时我还没有受洗，但是老妈的信仰一直植根于我的心中，影响着我。这本圣经我放在办公桌上，工作闲暇之际就翻开阅读，开启了我归向主的灵程之门。在后来的日子里，我受洗之后，我有了几种版本的圣经，但是这本圣经却是我看作妈妈留给我最为宝贵精神财富，有时候我会把脸贴在圣经的封面上，流泪、祷告、追思引领我亲近主的老妈。
信仰的力量是无穷的。从小到大，历经风雨，有苦难、有平安；有顺境、有逆境，主的恩典始终与我们同在。也许我们眼睛和肉体看不到、摸不着，就如门徒怀疑主耶稣基督复活一样。但主奇异的恩典就是始终存在。雨润无声的恩惠、看顾、保守，主始终在我们的心中。
记得我在退休之前的工作岗位上，单位老总曾经对闹矛盾的两位中层干部说：“你们有矛盾不要找我评理，去找毋总（我是公司副总），他是基督徒，信仰上帝，最公平，你们去找他。”这是我最欣慰的事情。不是我做的如何如何好，而是我尽力以日常的言行为主做了美好的见证，这是主的荣耀。
My mother's life has impressed me with her kindness and patience.
Love. She loved people, loved animals, and loved flowers and plants. During the Agrarian Reform, when fighting local tyrants and dividing the land, my dad was the district head. Mom used to hide the people who were attacked or even those who were sentenced to death. She kept them alive out of “principle." Afterward she didn’t remember the people that she stood up for, but their descendants never forget and think of her with gratitude. Our home was also a "comfort zone" for stray cats and dogs. When it was time for meals, groups of cats would come to find food and stray dogs would also come to have meals for free with their own puppies...
Patience. My father was a communist district governor during the War of Liberation. The Kuomintang authority offered a reward for my father's arrest. But they couldn't catch him. So they put my mom in prison, locking her up for a month. Mom just kept saying "Lord!" and even "Thank the Lord!". She endured everything and said nothing. She was released in the end. During the extreme Cultural Revolution period, due to my "capitalist rightist" father, my mom lived a hard life. Her internal body heat led to her getting acute nephritis, but she endured the pain and didn’t say anything. She still kept referring to the "Lord!", "My God!" and "Jesus!"
Although she could not recite relevant scriptures, nor did she explicitly indicate that this was the result of her faith in Jesus, her words and deeds proved her faith.
This was my Christian mother, and she influenced me deeply. She was critically ill at the age of 84. I was out of town, and when I hurried back, mom had been in a coma for two or three days. I pressed my face to her cheek as before and whispered that I was back. At this moment, my nephew exclaimed, "My grandmother’s eyes are open!" I saw mom slightly open her eyes, and then close them again. My tears began to flow. I know that she was waiting for me...
After my mother rested in the Lord’s embrace, my younger brother and younger sister asked me: "Elder brother, how would you like to remember your mother?" I looked at the Bible she kept by her bed all year round and said to my sister and brother, "Give me mother's Bible. I want nothing else." In this way, I received my first Bible. Although I had not yet been baptized, my mother's faith was still rooted in my heart and influenced me. This Bible, which I left at my desk to read in my spare time, opened the door to my spiritual journey to the Lord. In the days that followed, after I was baptized, I had several versions of the Bible, but this Bible was the most precious spiritual treasure that I owned because it is the one that my mother left me. Sometimes I would put my face on the cover of the Bible, cry, pray, and think of my mother who brought me close to the Lord.
The power of faith is infinite. From childhood to adulthood, we have gone through all kinds of trials and tribulations and peaceful times as well. In good times and in bad times, the grace of the Lord is always with us. Perhaps we cannot see or touch it with our eyes or hands, just as disciples doubt the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the amazing grace of the Lord is always there. With silent grace, care, and protection, the Lord is always in our hearts.
I still remember that when I was in my post before my retirement, the boss of the unit once said to the two middle-level cadres who were in conflict, "Don't talk to me about your conflicts. You should go to President Wu (I am the vice president of the company). He is a Christian and believes in God. He is the fairest person. You shall go and find him." That was the most gratifying thing anyone could say about me. It is not that how excellent I am, but that I do my best to witness to God in my daily words and deeds, to the glory of the Lord.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Mother's Bible Leaves Me Christian Heritage
