我们的潜意识里藏着一派田园景象。我们仿佛身处一次横贯大陆的漫长旅程之中,乘着火车,我们领略着窗外流动的景色:附近高速公路上奔驰的汽车、十字路口处招手的孩童、远山上吃草的牛群、源源不断地从电厂排放出的烟尘、成片的玉米和小麦、平原与山谷、群山与绵延的丘陵、天空映衬下城市的轮廓,以及乡村宅院。
然而我们心里想得最多的却是目的地。在某一天的某一时刻,我们将会抵达进站,迎接我们的将是乐队和飘扬的旗帜!一旦到了那儿,多少美梦将成为现实,我们的生活也将变得完整,如同一块拼好了的七巧板,可是我们现在在过道里不烦躁不安地踱来踱去,咒骂火车的拖拉!我们期待着,期待着,期待着火车进站的那一刻!
“当我们到站的时候,一切就都好了!我们呼喊着!当我18岁的时候!当我有了一辆新450SL奔驰的时候!当我供最小的孩子念完大学的时候!当我偿清房贷的时候!当我官职高升的时候!当我到了退休的时候,就可以从此过上幸福的生活啦!
可是我们终究会认识到人生的旅途中并没有车站,也没有最安逸的地方!生活的真正乐趣在于旅行的过程,而车站不过是个梦,它永远在我们的前方!
“享受此刻。”是句很好的箴言,尤其是当得到《圣经?诗篇》中第118页24行的一段话的解释的时候,更是如此:“今日乃主所创造;生活在今日我们将欢欣、高兴!“真正令人发疯的不是今日的负担,而是对昨日的悔恨及对明日的恐惧!悔恨与恐惧是一对孪生窃贼,将今天从你我身边偷走!
那么就不要在过道里徘徊吧,别老惦记着你离车站还有多远!何不换一种活法,将更多的高山攀爬,多吃点儿冰淇淋甜甜嘴巴,经常光着脚板儿溜达溜达,在更多的河流里畅游,多看看夕阳西下,多欢笑,少流泪水!生活得一边过一边瞧!车站就会很快到达!
Love Is Inside
Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he’s very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.
“Mom, I have a question to ask you,” I said after a while.
“What?” she replied, still doing her work.
“Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.
My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:
“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.”
I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.
After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn’t walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.
“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.
“Susan, don’t worry about me.” he said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm..