「父管教我們，是為了我們的益處。」－希伯來書12:10
有一天葛兒遭遇了一場無法彌補的意外，從此她無法像正常人一樣行走自如。於是她心生怨恨，變為更為叛逆。直到有一天她遇見了一位傳教士，就是山間居民口中「屬天的嚮導」。
傳教士對她說了一個關於峽谷的寓言：
「起初，峽谷並不存在，只有一望無際的草原。一天原野的主人走遍他的草原，卻看不見任何花朵；他問草原：『花在那裡呢？』它回答：『主人，我沒有種子。』
於是主人吩咐鳥兒將各式各樣的種子帶來，撒在原野的每個角落。很快的，草原就綻放美麗的花朵：番紅花、玫瑰花、向日葵、紅鈴蘭...，各個爭香鬥豔，為草原增添了五顏六色。
主人十分高興，但他四處尋找，卻找不到他最心愛的幾種花朵，於是他問：『鐵線蓮、紫羅蘭、銀蓮花、蕨類植物，和開花的灌木在那裡呢？』
於是他再度吩咐鳥兒將其他的種子帶來。過了不久，當主人再回到草原時，他仍舊找不到他所心愛的花朵；他不悅的說：『那些我最喜愛的花朵呢？』
原野悲哀的回答：『主人，我無法為你保存這些花朵，因為這些花一經過風吹日曬，都一一地凋萎了。』
主人於是吩咐閃電劈開原野的胸膛；劇痛中，一道道凹凸不平的傷口從原野的黝黑的胸口露出，可憐的原野顫抖哀號，不住的悲痛呻吟。
不久，河水將黑色泥土帶進原野的胸口，鳥兒也在裂口中四處撒播種子。過了一段漫長的年日，原本粗糙不堪的岩石，佈滿了青苔和藤蔓；谷中的每個角落，散放著鐵線蓮；榆樹也仰起粗大的枝幹，面向金燦的陽光；底部的樹根盤屈著鳳仙花；紫羅蘭、銀蓮花也隨著生長。
峽谷從此成為主人心頭的最愛，成為他的安息和喜樂。」傳教士故事說完了，問女孩說：「聖靈的果子，也就是聖靈的花朵，包含了愛、喜樂、和平、忍耐，和溫柔；其中有一些僅能生長在黝黑、崎嶇不平的峽谷裡。」
「那些是什麼呢？」葛兒輕聲的問。
傳教士回答說：「是溫柔、謙卑，和忍耐；而其他的花朵，雖然也能在原野開放，但若長在峽谷中，將會更加美麗芬芳。」
好一陣子，葛兒靜靜的躺臥著，一動也不動的思考，然後她發抖的說：「我的谷中沒有花，只有粗糙難看的岩石。」
「親愛的葛兒，別急；有一天，他們會開出花來的。主人會發現，我們也將會親眼目睹。」
"For our profit" (Heb. 12:10).In one of Ralph Connor's books he tells a story of Gwen. Gwen was a wild, wilful lassie and one who had always been accustomed to having her own way. Then one day she met with a terrible accident which crippled her for life. She became very rebellious and in the murmuring state she was visited by the Sky Pilot, as the missionary among the mountaineers was termed.
He told her the parable of the canyon. "At first there were no canyons, but only the broad, open prairie. One day the Master of the Prairie, walking over his great lawns, where were only grasses, asked the Prairie, 'Where are your flowers?' and the Prairie said, 'Master I have no seeds.'
"Then he spoke to the birds, and they carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide, and soon the prairie bloomed with crocuses and roses and buffalo beans and the yellow crowfoot and the wild sunflowers and the red lilies all summer long. Then the Master came and was well pleased; but he missed the flowers he loved best of all, and he said to the Prairie: 'Where are the clematis and the columbine, the sweet violets and wind-flowers, and all the ferns and flowering shrubs?'
"And again he spoke to the birds, and again they carried all the seeds and scattered them far and wide. But, again, when the Master came he could not find the flowers he loved best of all, and he said:
"'Where are those my sweetest flowers?' and the Prairie cried sorrowfully:
"'Oh, Master, I cannot keep the flowers, for the winds sweep fiercely, and the sun beats upon my breast, and they wither up and fly away.'
"Then the Master spoke to the Lightning, and with one swift blow the Lightning cleft the Prairie to the heart. And the Prairie rocked and groaned in agony, and for many a day moaned bitterly over the black, jagged, gaping wound.
"But the river poured its waters through the cleft, and carried down deep black mould, and once more the birds carried seeds and strewed them in the canyon. And after a long time the rough rocks were decked out with soft mosses and trailing vines, and all the nooks were hung with clematis and columbine, and great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight, and down about their feet clustered the low cedars and balsams, and everywhere the violets and wind-flower and maiden-hair grew and bloomed, till the canyon became the Master's favorite place for rest and peace and joy."
Then the Sky Pilot read to her: "The fruit--I'll read 'flowers'--of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness--and some of these grow only in the canyon."
"Which are the canyon flowers?" asked Gwen softly, and the Pilot answered: "Gentleness, meekness, longsuffering; but though the others, love, joy, peace, bloom in the open, yet never with so rich a bloom and so sweet a perfume as in the canyon."
For a long time Gwen lay quite still, and then said wistfully, while her lips trembled: "There are no flowers in my canyon, but only ragged rocks."
"Some day they will bloom, Gwen dear; the Master will find them, and we, too, shall see them."
Beloved, when you come to your canyon, remember!
