散文《打開天窗的人》｜The Man Who Opened the Skylight

打開天窗的人
——追思馮秉誠（里程）牧師

作者：泰華

2026-7-22

第一章　昨天

昨天，傳來馮秉誠（里程）牧師安息主懷的消息。

雖然早已知道他身體欠安，也明白這一天終究會來到，但當消息真正傳來時，我還是沉默了很久。

我想起的，並不是後來與他短暫的相見，也不是他站在講台上的身影。最先浮現在腦海裡的，是一本書。一本陪伴了無數海外華人走過信仰旅程的書——《遊子吟》。

二十多年前，一批又一批年輕人背起行囊，遠渡重洋，來到海外求學或生活。我也是其中的一個。

我們大多受的是現代教育，在無神論和唯物主義思想中成長，相信科學，崇尚理性，也習慣相信，一切問題終究都能找到一個可以證明的答案。然而，當福音第一次來到我們面前時，心裡卻充滿了從未認真思考過的疑問。

宇宙真的有一位創造主嗎？
天地萬物，是偶然形成，還是出於神的創造？
生命究竟從何而來？
聖經所記載的一切，只是古老的宗教故事，還是真實發生過的歷史？
那位出生在伯利恆馬槽裡的耶穌，究竟是誰？
祂為什麼來到世界？又為什麼甘願走上十字架？
祂真的從死裡復活了嗎？
科學與信仰，究竟彼此衝突，還是能夠同行？
一個受過現代教育的人，真的可以相信神嗎？

這些問題，並不只是我的問題，也是那個年代許多海外華人留學生和知識分子共同的疑問。就在那時，《遊子吟》走進了我的生命。它沒有催促我立刻相信，也沒有要求我放棄思考。它只是靜靜地陪伴著我，也陪伴著許多人，在理性與信仰之間，在懷疑與尋找之間，走過一段漫長的路。

很多年過去了。書頁已經泛黃，當年的疑問，大多也有了答案。

而昨天，當我再次聽見馮秉誠牧師安息主懷的消息時，我輕輕翻開記憶，最先映入眼前的，仍然是那本熟悉的《遊子吟》。

第二章　一扇天窗

後來，我常常想，《遊子吟》為什麼能夠影響整整一代海外華人？它並不是一本艱深的神學著作。也不是一本刻意與科學辯論的書。它更像是一位同行者，陪伴著一群同樣受過現代教育的人，重新思考那些曾經以為早已有答案的問題。

馮秉誠牧師本身就是一位科學家。也正因如此，他沒有否定科學，更沒有把科學與信仰放在彼此對立的位置。他讓我們明白，真正的科學，從來不是創造規律，而是發現規律。

牛頓沒有創造萬有引力，只是發現了它。愛因斯坦沒有創造時空，只是更深入地認識了宇宙的奧祕。科學可以不斷回答「世界如何運行」，卻仍然會追問：「世界為什麼存在？」

它可以研究生命如何生長，卻不能回答生命為何存在。它可以探索宇宙的浩瀚，卻不能說明宇宙秩序從何而來。

那一刻，我忽然明白，科學與信仰並不是兩條彼此對立的道路。它們所尋找的，都是同一個真理，只是在不同的層面，回答不同的問題。《遊子吟》沒有叫我們放棄理性，反而鼓勵我們繼續思考；沒有叫我們停止發問，而是引導我們，把問題問得更深。

許多年後回頭再看，我才真正明白，馮秉誠牧師並沒有替我們回答所有問題，也沒有把我們帶離科學。他只是輕輕打開了一扇天窗。讓我們第一次發現，原來屋頂之外，還有天空。

第三章　初見

信主十多年後，我終於見到了馮秉誠牧師。那是在一次華人教會聯合舉辦的培訓聚會上。

走進會場，我遠遠便看見了他。沒有想像中的名人風采，也沒有學者的距離感。一頭短短的平頭，一張方正的國字臉，臉上總帶著溫和的笑容。說話不疾不徐，神情平靜而謙和，帶著中國知識分子特有的儒雅氣質。如果不是早已知道他的身份，很難想到，眼前這位平易近人的長者，就是《遊子吟》的作者。

他分享時，沒有激昂的語調，也沒有刻意的修辭。他更像一位長者，平靜地講述自己一路走來的尋索與發現。沒有咄咄逼人的辯論，也沒有居高臨下的說服。有的，只是一份經過思考後的篤定，一份歷經歲月沉澱的平安。

那一天，我沒有機會與他長談。我認識他，他未必認識我。但對我而言，那已經足夠了。因為我終於見到了那位曾經陪伴我們走過疑惑的人。

直到那一刻，我才真正明白，《遊子吟》之所以能夠感動那麼多人，不只是因為它寫得真誠，更因為寫下它的人，早已先活出了它。

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第四章　一本書的旅行

有一年回國，我特意把幾本《遊子吟》放進了行李箱。

一本書，其實並不輕。出國的人都知道，每一公斤行李都十分珍貴，能少帶一件，就少帶一件。有人問我：「書這麼重，為什麼還要帶回去？」我笑著回答：「因為它比許多禮物都珍貴。」在我心裡，它並不是一本普通的書。

它曾陪伴我走過信仰的困惑，也幫助我重新思考生命、世界與真理。我希望，它也能陪伴另一位仍在尋找的人。後來，電子版愈來愈普及，我便不再把紙本放進行李。每當遇見背景相似的朋友，尤其是那些受過理工教育、仍在理性與信仰之間思索的人，我總會向他們推薦《遊子吟》。我總希望，這本曾經幫助過我的書，也能成為另一個人的陪伴。

那些年，偶爾聽聞馮牧師回國服事的消息，也知道他一路上經歷過不少困難與挑戰。每當聽見這些消息，我們便默默地為他禱告，求主保守他的腳步，賜給他智慧、平安與力量，使他忠心完成神所託付的使命。

多年以後，再回頭看，我忽然發現，真正旅行的，不只是一本書。旅行的，是一個人的見證；是一份對真理的追尋；也是福音在人心中的接力。

它從作者的筆下出發，走進一位又一位讀者的生命；
又從一位讀者，走向另一位讀者。
跨越山海，也跨越歲月。
而我，只是這段旅程中的一位傳遞者。

第五章　回家

昨天，這位寫下《遊子吟》的人，回家了。

合上《遊子吟》，我忽然想到，自己第一次讀這本書時，並沒有真正明白「遊子」二字的含義。那時，我以為遊子只是那些遠離故鄉、漂泊海外的人。後來才漸漸明白，我們每一個人，都是遊子。

神創造了我們，也為我們預備了永遠的家。然而，人因著罪離開了神，像浪子遠離父親，在世界裡漂泊，在尋找中度過一生，卻始終找不到真正的安息。

耶穌基督來到世上，不只是教導人如何生活，更是來尋找失喪的人，把遊子帶回天父的家。當一個人接受基督的救恩，他並不是找到了一個新的宗教，而是重新回到了創造他的天父面前。從那一天起，我們雖然仍然生活在地上，卻已經屬於天上的國度。我們仍然在人生的旅途中前行，卻知道自己正朝著真正的家鄉走去。

忽然想起他的筆名——里程。

人生，本來就是一段旅程。有人走得長一些，有人走得短一些。重要的，不是走了多遠，而是最終走向哪裡。如今，他完成了地上的里程。也抵達了永遠的家鄉。《遊子吟》的作者回家了。

而《遊子吟》，仍然陪伴著一代又一代的遊子，在人生的旅途中尋找真理，認識基督，走向那更美的家鄉。

終有一天，我們也將回到那位創造我們、救贖我們、一直等候我們回家的天父那裡。

那時，一切漂泊都將止息。
一切尋找，都將有答案。
我們將永遠與主同在。
那，才是遊子真正的歸宿。

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尾聲　《遊子吟》

你寫《遊子吟》
不是叫人留戀故鄉
而是告訴我們
還有一個更美的家鄉

我們一路尋找
一路漂泊
直到遇見基督
才知道
真正的歸程
不是故土
而是天父的家

今天
你已先回家
而我們
仍在歸途中

English Version 英文版（ChatGPT 翻译）

The Man Who Opened the Skylight
In Memory of Rev. Bingcheng Feng (“Miles”)
By Taihua

Chapter One
Yesterday

Yesterday, I received the news that Rev. Bingcheng Feng—better known by his pen name, Miles—had gone home to be with the Lord.

Although I had long known that his health was failing, and understood that this day would eventually come, when the news finally arrived, I found myself sitting in silence for a long while. What came back to me first was not our brief meeting years later, nor the image of him standing behind a pulpit.

The first thing that surfaced in my memory was a book. A book that accompanied countless overseas Chinese on their journeys of faith—Song of the Sojourner.

More than twenty years ago, wave after wave of young Chinese packed their bags and crossed the oceans to pursue their studies or make a living abroad. I was one of them.

Most of us had been educated under a modern academic system. We grew up with atheism and materialism as the prevailing worldview. We trusted science, valued reason, and believed that every question could eventually be answered through evidence and logic.

Yet when the gospel first confronted us, we found ourselves asking questions we had never seriously considered before.

Is there truly a Creator behind the universe?
Did heaven and earth come into existence by chance, or were they brought into being by God?
Where did life really come from?
Is the Bible merely an ancient religious book, or does it faithfully record history?
Who was Jesus of Nazareth, the One born in a manger in Bethlehem?
Why did He come into the world?
Why did He willingly walk the road to the cross?
Did He truly rise from the dead?
Are science and faith fundamentally opposed to one another, or can they exist in harmony?
Can an educated person living in the modern world genuinely believe in God?

These were not merely my questions. They were the questions shared by countless Chinese students and scholars living overseas during that generation. It was then that Song of the Sojourner entered my life. The book never urged me to believe before I was ready. Nor did it ask me to abandon reason. Instead, it quietly walked beside me.

It accompanied not only me, but many others, as we searched between reason and faith, between doubt and hope, along a long and often difficult road. Many years have passed since then. The pages of my own copy have grown yellow with age, and many of the questions that once troubled me have gradually found their answers.

Yesterday, when I heard once again that Rev. Feng had gone home to be with the Lord, I gently opened the pages of memory. And there, waiting for me as it always had, was that familiar book—Song of the Sojourner.

---

Chapter Two
A Skylight

Over the years, I have often wondered why Song of the Sojourner has touched an entire generation of overseas Chinese readers. It is not a dense work of theology. Nor is it a book written simply to argue with science. Instead, it reads like the voice of a fellow traveler, walking alongside people who had received the same modern education, inviting them to reconsider questions they once believed had already been settled.

Rev. Feng himself was a scientist. Perhaps that is precisely why he never rejected science, nor did he place science and faith in opposition to one another. Instead, he helped us understand something profoundly simple: Science does not create truth. Science discovers it.

Newton did not create gravity. He discovered it. Einstein did not create space and time. He revealed a deeper understanding of the universe. Science can explain how the universe works.
Yet it still asks why the universe exists. It can investigate how life develops. Yet it cannot answer why life exists at all. It can explore the vastness of the cosmos. Yet it cannot explain why the cosmos possesses such remarkable order.

At some point, I realized that science and faith are not two opposing roads. They are two different ways of seeking the same truth, each asking a different kind of question. Song of the Sojourner never asked us to abandon reason. Instead, it encouraged us to keep thinking.
It never discouraged honest questions. Instead, it taught us to ask deeper ones.

Looking back now after so many years, I realize that Rev. Feng never claimed to answer every question. Nor did he lead us away from science. He simply, and gently, opened a skylight.

For the first time, we discovered that beyond the roof above us, there was still the sky.

Chapter Three
Our First Meeting

More than ten years after I became a Christian, I finally met Rev. Bingcheng Feng. It was at a joint training conference organized by several Chinese churches. As I walked into the meeting hall, I saw him from a distance. He bore none of the aura one might expect from a well-known author or scholar. There was no air of celebrity, nor any sense of distance.

He wore his hair cut short. His square, gentle face was almost always lit by a quiet smile. He spoke calmly and unhurriedly, carrying the quiet dignity and refined temperament so often associated with the finest Chinese intellectuals.

Had I not already known who he was, I would never have guessed that this humble, approachable gentleman was the author of Song of the Sojourner.

When he spoke, there were no dramatic gestures, no soaring rhetoric, no carefully crafted eloquence. He simply spoke as someone who had spent a lifetime seeking truth and discovering grace. There was no urge to win an argument. No desire to overwhelm his audience. Only the quiet confidence of a man who had thought deeply, walked faithfully, and found peace along the way.

That day, I never had the opportunity to speak with him personally. I knew who he was. He probably did not know who I was. Yet that was enough.

For I had finally met the man who had quietly accompanied so many of us through our seasons of questions and uncertainty. Only then did I fully understand why Song of the Sojourner had touched so many lives. It was not merely because the book had been written with honesty and clarity. It was because the man who wrote it had first lived its message.

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Chapter Four
The Journey of a Book

One year, before returning to China, I deliberately packed several copies of Song of the Sojourner into my suitcase.

Books are surprisingly heavy. Anyone who has traveled internationally knows that every kilogram of luggage matters. Whenever possible, we leave something behind.

Someone asked me,
“Why would you carry books all that way? They weigh so much.”
I smiled and answered,
“Because they are more precious than many gifts.”
To me, it was never just another book.

It had walked with me through my own struggles of faith. It had helped me rethink life, the world, and the meaning of truth. I hoped it might accompany someone else who was still searching.

Years later, as electronic editions became widely available, I no longer needed to carry printed copies across the ocean. Whenever I met friends with backgrounds similar to mine—especially those trained in science or engineering, still wrestling with questions between reason and faith—I would recommend Song of the Sojourner to them. Each time, I quietly hoped that the book which had once guided me might also become a companion for another traveler.

Over the years, I occasionally heard news of Rev. Feng’s ministry during his visits to China.
I also learned that his path was not without difficulties and challenges. Whenever such news reached us, we prayed quietly for him—that the Lord would strengthen him, grant him wisdom and peace, and sustain him in faithfully completing the work entrusted to him.

Looking back now, I realize that it was never only a book that had been traveling.
What journeyed onward was a person’s testimony.
A lifelong pursuit of truth.
The passing of the gospel from one heart to another.
From the author’s desk, the book entered the lives of countless readers.
Then, through those readers, it continued its journey into still more lives.
It crossed mountains and oceans.
It crossed generations.
As for me—
I was simply one small messenger along its way.

Chapter Five
Home

Yesterday, the man who wrote Song of the Sojourner went home.

After closing the book, I found myself reflecting on something I had never truly understood when I first read it. Back then, I thought a sojourner was simply someone who had left home and crossed the ocean to live in a foreign land. Only much later did I begin to understand.
Every one of us is a sojourner.

God created us and prepared an eternal home for us. Yet through sin, humanity wandered away from its Creator, like the prodigal son leaving his father’s house. We have spent our lives searching, wandering through this world, longing for rest, yet never able to find lasting peace on our own.

Jesus Christ came into the world not merely to teach people how to live. He came to seek those who were lost. He came to bring the sojourner home—to the Father’s house.

When a person receives Christ’s salvation, he has not simply embraced a new religion.
He has returned to the One who created him. From that moment on, although we still live on earth, we already belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. We continue our earthly journey, yet we now know where our true home lies.

At that moment, another thought quietly came to me.
His pen name was Miles. Life itself is a journey. Some travel farther than others. Some finish sooner than expected. What finally matters is not how far we have gone, but where our journey ends.

Now he has completed his earthly miles. He has arrived at his eternal home. The author of Song of the Sojourner has gone home.

Yet Song of the Sojourner continues its own journey, accompanying generation after generation of sojourners as they seek the truth, come to know Christ, and walk toward that better homeland.
One day, we too shall return to the Father—the One who created us, redeemed us, and has patiently waited for us to come home.

Then every wandering will cease. Every search will find its answer. And we shall be with the Lord forever.

That is the true destination of every sojourner.

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Epilogue
Song of the Sojourner

You wrote Song of the Sojourner,
not to make us long for the homeland we left behind,
but to remind us
that there is a better homeland awaiting us.

We have searched,
and we have wandered,
until we encountered Christ
and finally understood:
our true journey home
is not to the land of our birth,
but to the Father’s house.

Today,
you have gone home before us.
And we,
are still on the journey.