Once a circle missed a wedge. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice flowers or talk to the worms. When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
從前有個(gè)圓圈,它丟失了一小段。它想變得完整,于是它到處尋找它所丟失的那部分。由于不完整,它只能滾的非常慢。在路上,它羨慕過花兒,它與蟲子聊過天,它享受了陽光的照耀。它遇到過很多不同的小段,可是沒有一個(gè)適合它。所以它把它們丟在路邊,繼續(xù)尋找。有一天,圓圈找到了可以與它完美結(jié)合的一小段,它非常高興。它現(xiàn)在終于完整了,不缺任何東西了。它把丟失的那段裝到自己身上,然后滾了起來。它現(xiàn)在是個(gè)完整的圓圈了,它可以滾的很快,,快到忽視了花兒,快到?jīng)]有時(shí)間和蟲子們說話。當(dāng)它意識(shí)到由于它滾的太快,世界變得如此的不同時(shí),它便停了下來,把找到的那段卸下丟在路邊,慢慢地滾走了。
The lesson of the story, I suggested, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what it feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. He will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had.
我想這個(gè)故事告訴我們,從某種奇怪的意義上說,當(dāng)我們?nèi)鄙偈裁礀|西時(shí),我們反而是更完整的。一個(gè)擁有一切的人在某些方面也是個(gè)窮人,他永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)知道什么是渴望、什么是期待;永遠(yuǎn)不知道用渴求更美好的東西來充實(shí)他的靈魂。他永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)知道一個(gè)愛他人送給他一樣他所夢寐以求的東西時(shí)是怎樣的一種感覺。
There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so. There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.
人生的完整性,在于接受自己的缺陷,勇敢地丟棄不切實(shí)際的幻想,并且不覺得這樣做是失敗的;人生的完整性,在于知道自己足夠強(qiáng)大,可以承受人生的苦難,可以在失去一個(gè)人時(shí)仍然覺得自己是完整的。
Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn us for failing. Life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words you’ve gotten right, you’re disqualified if you make one mistake. Life is more like a baseball season, where even the best team loses one third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance. Our goal is to win more games than we lose. When we accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. That, I believe, is what God asks of us --- not “Be perfect”, not “Don’t even make a mistake”, but “Be whole”.
生活并不是上帝為了譴責(zé)我們的缺陷而設(shè)下的陷阱。人生也不是一場拼字比賽,無論你拼出了多少單詞,只要拼錯(cuò)了一個(gè)你就前功盡棄了。人生更像一個(gè)棒球賽季,最好的球隊(duì)也會(huì)丟掉三分之一的比賽,而最差的球隊(duì)也有輝煌的勝利。我們的目標(biāo)是讓打贏的比賽比輸?shù)舻谋荣惗?。?dāng)我們接受了“不完整性”是人生的一部分時(shí),當(dāng)我們在人生之路上不斷前進(jìn)并且欣賞生命之美時(shí),我們就獲得了別人只能渴望的完整的人生。我相信這就是上帝對我們的期望:不求“完美”,也不求“從來不犯錯(cuò)誤”,而是追求人生的“完整”。
If we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to rejoice in another’s happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.
如果我們有足夠的勇氣去愛,足夠強(qiáng)大的力量去原諒別人,足夠的寬容因別人的快樂而快樂,并有足夠的智慧去認(rèn)識(shí)到我們身邊充滿著愛,我們就會(huì)得到其它生命所得不到的一種滿足感。