I went to school in Hong Kong. In order to get into the only medical school in Hong Kong, we had to pass a tough series of exams which included a hands-on biology “Practical Exam . In this test I had to dissect the salivary glands of a cockroach, and put it on a glass slide for evaluation. Fortunately, cockroaches in the Far East are generally larger than those in the United States. But the salivary glands are still very, very small! And they are tissue thin. Basically they are “see through” translucent, and very fragile.

我曾在香港读书。为了进入香港唯一的医学院，考生们必 须通过ー连串艰深的考试，包括一个要亲自动手的“实用生物学考试”。在这个考试里，我要解剖蟑螂的唾腺，把它放在鏡片上，再作鉴定。幸好，远东的蟑螂通常比美国的蟑螂大。但 即使如此，唾腺还是极其微小的! 它薄得难以想像。基本上， 蟑螂的唾腺是透明的，并且很脆弱。

So here I was, taking the hands-on exam. It was summer, and very hot and humid, a typical “sub-tropical island weather. The ceiling fans were on full blast, since air conditioning was not generally available. With great care, I managed to finally dissect out the very dainty, fragile, tiny translucent salivary gland, and began to place it gingerly on top of a small glass slide, ready for inspection underneath the microscope.

于是，我去参加考试了。那时候是夏天，天气又湿又热， 就是那种典型的亚热带岛屿气候。那时空调还没有那么普及， 考场里天花板上的电风扇都开到了最大档。我小心翼翼地把那 个小巧、脆弱而微小的透明体解剖了，并轻手轻脚地放在镜片 上，淮备好在显微镜底下检视它。

To my great horror, at the moment in which the tissue was laid out on the glass slide, a waft of air came through from the ceiling fan, and I realized my precious salivary glands had flown to the ground. Frantically, I stooped down to try to scrape it off the ground. Of course that meant the whole fragile gland was now “a mess”. It looked nothing like the expected beautiful salivary glands, with many fine branches coming off a tree.

正当我把这片组织平放在镜片上时，ー阵可怕的风从天花板上的电风扇吹过来，我发现我那宝貴的唾腺已经被吹到地上 了。我疯狂地蹲下去想要把这片唾腺组织从地上刮回来。当然， 那意味著整个脆弱的唾腺现在是乱七八糟的了。根本就不是本来那个美丽的组织，像ー棵有很多枝子的树儿。

I hurriedly summoned the Examiner- Inspector, and appealed to her “sense of justice”. She gave me a stare and shrugged her shoulders and walked on. Of course I failed the Practical Exam and, therefore, since I messed up on one of the exams, I failed the entire exam. I could not get into medical school, and for one whole year I hung around in high school, clearly identified as the “Head Prefect who could not get into medical school”. The Head Prefect was a very responsible position in the British school system. It was, to put it mildly, embarrassing and humiliating.

我仓皇地把考试官请来， 祈求她给予 “公正的裁决’’。 她盯了我一眼，耸耸肩就走 了。当然，实用生物学这门考试我就考砸了，因为我有 ー科考坏了，整个考试就不及格了。因此我没能考上医学院。其后的一整年，我在中学无所事事，被贴上 “没 有考上医学院的总领袖生’’ 的标签。“总领袖生’’ 在英国的教育体系上是责任重大的职位。客气地说，这件事和它造成的冲击很令人尴尬，令人丢脸。

But to my great surprise, that year was an excellent year, where I grew spiritually and learned many lessons of life. It was just great to take my time, study quietly, not be in the lime-light, and learn many little lessons of humility. I learned to be more patient with those around me. Definitely, I no longer had a sense of superiority! These lessons have carried me through many difficult subsequent years.

但令我惊奇的是，那年其实是很棒的一年，我在灵性上成 长了，也学会了生活上大大小小的功课。我放慢脚步，静静地读书，不在乎能不能在镁光灯下出风头，也学习了很多谦卑的小功课。我学会如何对周遭的人更有耐心。我肯定已经不觉得自己特别优越了! 这些功课带著我度过无数艰难的岁月。

We just never know what life throws at us. Often many things seem terrible at the time, but in retrospect they are important steps along life’s path. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” It’s very true!

我们真的无法预测生命会带给我们什么。很多当时看来是很糟糕的事情，待回过头来想，往往就是我们人生路上重要的脚步。罗马书ハ章28节说 : “我们晓得万事都互相效カ，叫愛 神的人得益处，就是按他旨意被召的人。’’ 那是多么真实啊!