作者 Francis Gay 是个英国人，是位基督教牧师。这本书他每年出版一本。是从哪一年开始出的，我不知道。我手上最早的一本是1963年的。左面图中这本是1980 年的。

生活是充满了甜、酸、苦、辣的。这本书由365/366个passages 构成。作者每天给我们一点点东西，与我们一同分享、一同面对生活中的这些甜、酸、苦、辣。

打开书，书的扉页上写着：A Thought for Each Day In ---- 今年是哪年，就写哪年。比如这本，是1980年的，写的就是 A Thought For Each Day In 1980。

书的文字很棒。1980年这本，1月1日的这篇是这样的：

Tuesday-January 1
When Ruth and Gerard told their respective families that they wanted to get married on New Year's Eve they met with a hostile reception. What a ridiculous time to choose for a wedding! Just after Christmas, with the likelihood of bitterly cold weather, and difficult travelling for the many guests coming from a distance.
      But the wedding arrangements went ahead and, as it happened, the weather was mild and the day gilded by an hour or two of winter sunshine. They are a romantic couple, and they achieved their heart's desire -- to start the New Year together as man and wife. When you come to think of it the vows they made would make good New Year resolutions for nay of us ... to love, to honor, to be faithful ... for better, for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health ... A wonderful pledge with which to start 1980.

西方人结婚，一定要面对主婚人发誓。誓词中有这样的词句：... to love, to honor, to be faithful ... for better, for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health ... Ruth 和 Gerard自然也不例外。另一方面，西洋人还有立“新年决心”的习俗。作者Francis Gay在这里巧妙地把婚誓与新年决心“混为一谈”。真是妙极了。而另一方面，双方的父母都不喜欢选新年为结婚的日子，而作者却引导我们看到，选定这一天结婚却更有这一天结婚的独到意义。