各位同仁平安：
以下是12月27日「週一禱告會」康克校牧分享的禱詞短文，
讓我們一起來親近天父—先求祂的國和祂的義。
誠摯邀請大家參加週一禱告會，一起禱告！
校牧室敬啟
God bless us, everyone!
So says Tiny Tim towards the end of Dicken’s Christmas carol, as memorable as a novel as it is for its many movie adaptations.
There are a lot of Christmas movies. Most of them are terrible. Not just bad Christmas messages, but plain bad movies. But among the terrible one’s there are a few jems.
Like It’s A Wonderful Life, whose story of kindness, love, redemption, and doing the right thing is timeless. Good thing, since the movie was filmed in 1946!
Or A Christmas Story, a 1983 film that captures family life and childlike expectation in all its chaos and dysfunction. But that same image of family is a warm reminder of what makes Christmas celebrations so special.
And there’s one of my favorite’s, 1992’s A Muppet Christmas Carol which is the best version of Charles Dicken’s classic novel ever put to film. It makes even the coldest of hearts love the Christmas season.
But perhaps the best, the one that most truly understands Christmas, is A Charlie Brown Christmas. After a frustrating search for the meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown cries out whether anyone knows what Christmas is all about. And his friend Linus puts down his blanket and recites from the book of Luke:
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” [Luke 2:8-14]
That’s what Christmas is all about.
「上帝祝福我們，我們每⼀個⼈」
⼩提姆在狄更斯著名的⼩說《⼩氣財 神》(或譯為《聖誕頌歌》）結尾如此說道，這部⼩說與其多部改編的電影⼀樣難忘。
我們有很多聖誕主題電影，⼤多數的內容很差勁，不僅是糟糕的聖誕節信息， 即使以⼀般電影評等標準⽽⾔，就是⼀部乏味、糟糕的作品，但其中還是有部分作品脫穎⽽出。
像是《⾵雲⼈物》——拍攝於1946年， 整個故事圍繞談論良善、愛、救贖以及做正確的事情，這些都是歷久彌新的價值。
或是《聖誕故事》——拍攝於1983年， 講述在各種失序、混亂當中，⼀個家庭的⽣活樣貌，以及他們如同孩童般的期望，透過這個家庭，溫馨地提醒我們慶祝聖誕節的特別之處。
還有⼀部我很喜愛的影集是，1992年的
《布偶聖誕頌》，這是以查爾斯·狄更斯(Charles Dicken) 的經典⼩說為劇本，有史以來最好的電影版本，它讓最冷酷的⼼也愛上聖誕節。
但或許，最棒的是，最深刻、精確了解聖誕節意義的這部作品——《查理·布朗的聖誕節》，查理·布朗在⼀番努⼒、探尋聖誕節真諦後，感到沮喪，他哭問究竟有誰真正知道聖誕節的意義？他的朋友 奈勒斯放下毯⼦，背誦《路加福⾳》
‘’當晚，伯利恆郊外有⼀群牧
⽺⼈正在看守⽺群。 忽然， 主的天使向他們顯現，主的榮光四⾯照著他們，他們⾮常害怕。 天使對他們說：「不要怕！我告訴你們⼀個有關萬⺠的⼤喜訊，今天在⼤衛的城裡有⼀位救主為你們降⽣了，祂就是主基督！ 你們將看⾒⼀個嬰孩包著布躺在⾺槽裡，這就是給你們的記號。」
忽然，有⼀⼤隊天軍出現，與那天使⼀同讚美上帝說：「在⾄⾼之處，願榮耀歸於上帝！ 在地上，願平安臨到祂所喜悅的⼈！」 [路加福⾳2章8-14節
這就是聖誕節的意義所在。
