阅读理解
Vincent Van Gogh was not always an artist.In fact, he wanted to be a church minister but was sent to the Belgian mining community of Borinage in 1879.He discovered that the miners there lived with terrible working conditions and received poverty-level wages.Their families were not well fed and struggled simply to survive.He felt concerned that the small salary he received from the church allowed him to live a normal life, which, in contrast to the poor, seemed unfair.
One cold February evening, while he watched the miners going home, tired and hungry, he spotted an old man staggering toward him across the fields, wrapped in a burlap sacks for warmth.Van Gogh immediately laid his own clothing out on the bed, set aside enough for one change, and determined to give the rest away.He gave the old man a suit of clothes and he gave his overcoat to a pregnant woman whose husband had been killed in a mining accident.He spent his money on food for miners while he left himself very little, only enough to make soul and body together.When children in one family suffered from fever, though feverish himself, he packed up his bed and took it to them.
A rich family in the community offered him free room and board.But Van Gogh turned down the offer, stating that it was the final temptation he must reject if he was to faithfully serve his community of poor miners.He believed that if he wanted them to trust him, he must become one of them.And if they were to learn of the love of God through him, he must love them enough to share with them.
He was fully aware of a wide chasm which can separate words and actions.He knew that people’s lives often speak louder and clearer than their words.Maybe it was that same knowledge that led Francis of Assisi to frequently remind his monks(修士,僧侣), “Wherever you go, preach.Use words if necessary.”
There are a million ways to say, “I love you,” without even saying a word!