人生不設(shè)限·第三章 對生命的無限可能抱持信心

《圣經(jīng)》將信心(faith)定義為“所望之事的實底，未見之事的確據(jù)”[8]。你我都不能在沒有信心、不信任一些還未被證實的事物的情況下過日子。說到信心，常常指的是宗教信仰，但日常生活中其實有各種不同的信心課題。身為基督徒，我依照對上帝的信心而活，即使看不見或摸不到上帝，我心里知道他是存在的，并將未來交在他手上。我不知道明天有些什么，但因為我相信上帝，我知道誰掌管明天。這是信心的一種形式。

Faith is defined in the Bible as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You and I could not live without faith, without putting our trust in something for which we have no proof. Most often we talk about faith in terms of religious beliefs, but there are many other types of faith that are part of each day. As a Christian, I live according to my belief in God. Even though I can't see Him or touch Him, I know in my heart that He exists, and I put my future in His hands. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but because I believe in Him, I know who holds tomorrow.

生活中，我在許多方面都擁有信心。例如，有些元素我看不見、摸不著也感覺不到，但我就是接受它們的存在。我相信有氧氣，也相信科學(xué)家說的，人要活下去就需要它。雖然我看不見、摸不著也感覺不到氧氣，但我就是知道它存在，因為，我在這里——如果我還活著，那我一定正在呼吸氧氣，所以氧氣是存在的，對吧?

That is one form of faith. I have faith in many areas of my life. I accept that there are certain elements I can't see, touch, or feel, but I believe in them anyway. I trust that oxygen exists, and I trust that science is correct in saying that we need it to survive. I can't see, touch, or feel oxygen. I just know it is there because I am here. If I am alive, then I must be breathing it, so oxygen must exist, right?

就像一定要有氧氣才能活下去，我們也必須信賴一些看不見的事物才可以生存。為什么?因為你我都會遇到挑戰(zhàn)，生命中就是有些時刻看不見任何出路，這時，信心就進(jìn)來了。

Just as we must have oxygen to live, we must trust in certain unseen realities to survive. Why? Because we all face challenges. You have them. I have them. There simply are times in our lives when we can't see a way out, and that is where faith comes in.

最近有個叫凱特的女性寄E-mail給我，她因為醫(yī)療問題(包括動了將近二十次手術(shù))被公司資遣。凱特出生時缺少大腿骨，因此在學(xué)步期就必須截肢。她現(xiàn)在三十多歲、已婚，但還是常常被“為什么是我”這個問題所苦。

I received an e-mail recently from a woman named Katie who had been laid off from her job because of her medical problems, which have included nearly twenty surgeries. She'd been born without a femur bone in one leg, which had to be amputated when she was a toddler. Now in her thirties and married, Katie told me she often struggled with the "Why me?" question.

看了我的某段影片后，凱特了解到，有時我們就是不知道“為什么是我”，但要相信有一天上帝會顯明它的計劃，在那之前，我們必須憑信心而活。

After watching one of my videos, Katie realized that sometimes we just cannot know "Why me?" We must trust that God's plan for us will be revealed in time. Until then we must walk in faith.

“我衷心地感謝你?，F(xiàn)在我相信自己就跟你一樣，是上帝所揀選的。”她寫道，“希望有朝一日，我有這個榮幸可以見到你本人，擁抱你、感謝你幫助我打開眼睛，看見光明。”

"I thank you with all my heart. I now believe that I, like you, am God's chosen one," she wrote. "One day I hope I'll have the honor of meeting you in person to wrap my arms around, hug, and thank you for helping me open my eyes to see the light."

在決定相信并依靠她看不見或無法理解的事物之后，凱特才找到了力量與希望。信心正是這樣運作的：你會遇到一些起初看來根本無解的挑戰(zhàn)，在等待答案時，信心可能是你僅有的，而有時候，只不過單純地相信問題總會有解答，就能讓你撐過黑暗的時刻。

Katie found strength and hope only after she decided to trust in what she could not see or understand. That's exactly how faith works. You will encounter challenges that initially seem insurmountable. While we wait for a solution, faith may be all we have to hang on to, and sometimes simply trusting that there will be an answer will get you through those darkest moments.

我給信心的定義是：心里全然有把握(Full Assurance In The Heart，這五個字的第一個字母合起來，即為FAITH)。或許我無法對我所相信的一切都提供證據(jù)，但我非常確定，活在信心中比活在絕望中更接近真理。我每年會對幾千名學(xué)童演講，常常和他們一起探討“相信無法看見的”這個概念。(有時候，小朋友一開始會有些怕我，我也不知道為什么，我們差不多高啊。我告訴他們，以我的年紀(jì)來說，我算是比較矮的。)

That is why I talk about FAITH as an acronym: Full Assurance In The Heart. I may not be able to produce evidence for all that I believe in, but I feel fully assured in my heart that I am much closer to the truth by living with faith than I would be by living in despair. When I talk to thousands of schoolchildren each year, I often explore the notion of trusting in what we can't see. (Sometimes the little ones are a bit frightened of me at first. I don't know why because we're always about the same height. I tell them I'm small for my age.)

我會說說笑話，直到他們覺得跟我在一起很自在。一旦習(xí)慣了我的缺手缺腳，我發(fā)現(xiàn)大部分的小孩都超喜歡我的小左腳。他們會指指點點，或是盯著它看，所以我就搖搖小左腳，還開玩笑說這是“我的小雞腿”。通常這會引起一陣哄堂大笑，因為這么形容還蠻貼切的。

I joke with them until they feel comfortable with me. Once they're accustomed to my lack of limbs, I find most kids are fascinated by my little left foot. I'll see them pointing or staring, so I wave it at them and make a joke about "my little chicken drumstick." That always gets a laugh because the description is quite accurate.

比我小6歲的妹妹蜜雪兒是第一個觀察到這點的人。我們一家人經(jīng)常開車長途旅行，三個小孩會像一捆木材一樣被放在后座上。大部分的爸爸一旦上路就不喜歡停下來，我們家的也不例外。餓的時候，三兄妹就會用力地暗示父母。

My sister, Michelle, who is six years younger than me, was the first to make that observation. With our brother, Aaron, and our parents, we often traveled on long family trips in which we three kids were packed like cordwood in the backseat of the car. Like most dads, ours didn't like to stop once we hit the road. When we grew hungry, we'd drop big hints to my dad and mum.

實在餓得快抓狂時，我們會假裝互相咬來咬去。有一次旅行，蜜雪兒宣布要咬我的小左腳：“因為它看起來像只雞腿。”我們聽了大笑，后來也就忘了這件事。結(jié)果幾年前，蜜雪兒帶了一只小狗回家，只要我一坐下來，這只小狗就會來咬我的小左腳，我把它推開，它還是一直回來啃。

When we were absolutely famished, we'd go a little crazy and pretend to take bites out of each other. On one trip Michelle announced that she intended to chew on my little left foot "because it looks just like a chicken drumstick." We laughed about it, but I forgot about her description. Then a few years ago, Michelle brought home a puppy. The little pup tried to chew on my foot whenever I sat down. I'd nudge him away, but he kept coming back to gnaw on it.

“看到?jīng)]?就連我的小狗也覺得它像只雞腿耶。”蜜雪兒說。

"See, it still looks like a chicken drumstick even to my puppy!" Michelle said.

太妙了!從此以后，我都會在校園演講中跟孩子們提到這個故事。而一旦介紹了我的左腳，我會問小朋友是不是認(rèn)為我只有一只腳。這個問題總是讓孩子們大吃一驚，因為他們只看到一只腳，但是有兩只腳比較合理啊。

I loved it! Ever since then, I've told that story in my speeches to schoolchildren. But once I introduce my left foot, I ask kids if they think I have just one foot. This question always throws them for a loop because they can see only one foot, but it would make sense for me to have two.

大部分孩子相信自己所看見的，說我只有一只腳。然后我就會為他們出示“小小雞腿”，就是我更小的右腳，通常被我收在褲管里。有時我會伸出右腳扭兩下，嚇嚇?biāo)麄?，然后他們就會驚聲尖叫。這實在很有趣，因為小朋友真的很直率，馬上就承認(rèn)要看見才能相信。

Most kids go with what they can see. They usually tell me they think I have just one foot. I then produce for them Junior, my even smaller right foot, which I normally keep tucked in. Sometimes I shock them by sticking out my right foot and wiggling it. They usually shriek and scream. It's funny because kids are so straightforward. They admit that they have to see it to believe it.

我會鼓勵他們——就像我現(xiàn)在鼓勵你一樣——去相信生命有各種可能性。在艱難困苦的時光中，依然能夠前進(jìn)，關(guān)鍵就在于，你不是以能看見的，而是以能想象的事物，來引導(dǎo)你的人生。這就叫作信心。

I then encourage them, just as I now encourage you, to trust that there are possibilities for your life. The key to moving forward, even in hard times, is to let your vision for your life be guided not by what you can see but by what you can imagine. That's called having faith.