為了表達自己的哀傷，小女孩艾莉在一塊木板上寫了這些話：「坦白說，我很難過。沒有人想跟我玩，我還失去了唯一會聽我說話的人。我每天都在哭泣。」然後，她將這塊木板放在公園裡。

有人在公園裡看見這塊木板，就把粉筆放在木板旁邊，讓人們把想要對艾莉說的話寫下來。附近一所學校的學生們寫了許多鼓勵的話：「我們愛妳。」「上帝愛妳。」「妳是被愛的。」這所學校的校長說：「這是我們能伸出援手的一個小舉動，也許能幫她填滿內心的空虛。艾莉道出所有人的心聲，因為在某些時候，我們都曾經（或將要）經歷憂傷與苦難。」

「你是被愛的」這句話讓我想起摩西在離世前，對以色列便雅憫支派的美好祝福：「耶和華所親愛的，必同耶和華安然居住」（申命記33章12節）。摩西是上帝賦予能力的領袖，他戰勝仇敵、領受十誡、敦促百姓跟隨上帝，還說他們是上帝所愛的。我們也是上帝所愛的，正如聖經說，上帝愛世人，甚至將祂的獨生子賜給我們（約翰福音3章16節）。

每個基督徒都是被上帝所愛的，當上帝幫助我們確信這一事實的時候，我們就能像艾莉的新朋友們那樣去關愛別人。

To express her sadness, Allie, a young girl, wrote on a piece of wood and set it in a park: “To be honest, I’m sad. Nobody ever wants to hang out with me, and I have lost the only person that listens. I cry every day.”

When someone found that note, she brought sidewalk chalk to the park and asked people to write their thoughts to Allie. Dozens of words of support were left by students from a nearby school: “We love you.” “God loves you.” “You are beloved.” The school principal said, “This is one little way that we can reach out and maybe help fill [her void]. She represents all of us because at some point in time we have all or will all experience sadness and suffering.”

The phrase “You are beloved” reminds me of a beautiful blessing by Moses to the Israelite tribe of Benjamin just before he died: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him” (Deuteronomy 33:12). Moses had been a strong leader for God, defeating enemy nations, receiving the Ten Commandments, and challenging them to follow God. He left them with God’s view of them. The word beloved can be used of us as well, for Jesus said, “God so loved the world that He gave [us] his one and only Son” (John 3:16).

As God helps us to rest securely in the truth that every believer in Jesus is “beloved,” we can reach out to love others as Allie’s new friends did.