The Missed Blessings　錯過的祝福

The Missed Blessings　錯過的祝福

◎ Linda Lawrence

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

一個年輕人即將大學(xué)畢業(yè)。數(shù)月來，他愛上了某經(jīng)銷商的展室中那一輛漂亮的跑車，他知道自己的父親有能力負(fù)擔(dān)得起，就告訴父親，這是他最想要的禮物。

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man’s name embossed in gold.

在畢業(yè)典禮即將來臨的日子里，年輕人等待著他的父親把這輛車送給他，而種種跡象表明，他的父親會把這禮物送給他。最后，在畢業(yè)典禮的那天上午，父親把他叫到自己的書房。他父親告訴他，他是多么自豪能有這樣一個好兒子，并告訴他，他是多么愛他。他遞給兒子一個包裝精美的禮品盒。出于好奇，這位年輕人打開了盒子，但令他失望的是，里面裝的是一個可愛的皮革裝訂的圣經(jīng)，上面還用金印燙著年輕人的名字。

Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?” He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

一氣之下，他提高了嗓門氣憤地對他父親說：“你的錢就只給我一本圣經(jīng)嗎？”然后，他奪門而出，撇下那本圣經(jīng)靜靜地躺在書桌上。

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

很多年過去了，年輕人已事業(yè)有成。他有一座漂亮的房子，一個美滿的家庭，但當(dāng)他意識到父親年事已高時，他想，或許他應(yīng)該回去看看他。自從畢業(yè)那天起，他就再也沒有見到過父親。還沒等他做出有關(guān)安排，他就收到一封電報，告知他父親已經(jīng)去世了，并立下遺囑將其所有財產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)給兒子。他必須馬上回家處理后事。

When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.

當(dāng)他來到了父親的家，突然感到心里一陣悲傷與懊悔。他仔細清理父親的重要文件，還看到了當(dāng)年那本圣經(jīng)，嶄新就如他幾年前離開時那樣。

With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... “Paid in full.”

他噙著淚水打開圣經(jīng)，當(dāng)他翻到某一頁時，一把鑰匙從書的背面掉出來了。鑰匙上面打著一個經(jīng)銷商的名字，是那輛跑車經(jīng)銷商的名字。這是他曾渴望的標(biāo)記。而標(biāo)簽上還有他畢業(yè)的日期，還有充滿愛的語言“款已付清……”。

How many times do we miss blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? I trust you enjoyed this. Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. Sometimes we don’t realize the good fortune we have or we could have because we expect “the packaging” to be different. What may appear as bad fortune may in fact be the door that is just waiting to be opened.

我們多少次與祝福擦肩而過，僅僅是因為它沒有按照我們想象中的樣子包裝好？我相信你理解（明白）這一點。不要用你渴望得到而沒得到的，去破壞你所擁有的一切，但你要記住這一點：你現(xiàn)在所擁有的，恰恰也是你曾經(jīng)一心期待得到的。有時，我們并沒有意識到自己有多么幸運，或者只是因為幸運與我們想象的有所不同。那些表面上看起來像是壞的運氣，實際上可能正是需要開啟才知道的幸運。

超多雙語閱讀，盡在聽力課堂