书城工具书哲理英语
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第6章 砖头

大约十年前,一位年轻、成功的经理乔希正行驶在芝加哥居民区的街道上。他把他那辆亮亮的12汽缸的黑捷豹XKF开得太快了,这辆车,是才买了两个月的新车。

他注意着从停着的车子之间突然跑出的孩子,他放慢速度,这时,他觉得他看到了什么东西。他的车开了过去,没有孩子突然冲出,但却飞出了一块砖头。“咔嚓!”砖头击中了捷豹黑亮的后门。车尖叫着停了下来,调转车头,捷豹车飞地开回到砖头飞出的地点。乔希跳下车,抓住孩子,把他按在一辆停着的车上。他冲孩子喊到:“是怎么回事?你是谁?你到底在做什么?”他火气十足地问继续说道:“那是我的新捷豹车,你要为你扔的砖头付出很大代价的,你为什么要扔?”

“先生,对不起!我没有其它的办法!”年轻人恳求说:“我扔砖头是因为没有别人肯停下!”他流着眼泪指向那辆停着的车的后面,“那是我哥哥,先生,”他说道:“他滚下了马路牙子,摔出了轮椅,我没有足够的力量把他扶起来。”男孩边抽泣着边问那位经理:“你能帮我把他扶回到轮椅上吗?她受伤了,对我来说,他太重了。”

年轻的经理被感动得无话可说,他努力地平息了心头的怒火。他把他拉回了轮椅,掏出手帕,为他擦了擦伤口,还察看了是否一切都没问题。然后他看着弟弟沿着人行道把哥哥推回家。

他走了很久才走回到他那辆亮亮的12汽缸的黑捷豹XKF车旁。乔希没有修理过捷豹车的后门,他留着那个凹坑来提醒自己在人生路上别走得太快,让别人不得不用砖头引起自己的注意…有些砖头会比另一些软,同情一下那些在人生路上飞向你的砖头吧。对于那些我们只能对自己说的消极的事情,上帝有积极的答案。

Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.

We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

I asked for Strength.........

And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........

And God gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity.........

And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage.........

And God gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love.........

And God gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favours.........

And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted ........

I received everything I needed!