A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about. 一對男女結婚已經超過60年。他們共同擁有一切,無所不談。除了小老太婆衣櫃頂上的鞋盒,彼此間沒有秘密,她提醒丈夫絕對不要打開鞋盒,也不要叫她打開。
For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. 這些年來,他從來沒想到過這鞋盒。但是有一天,小老太婆病得很重,醫生說她將不行了。
In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was In the box. When he opened it, he found two knitted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000. 在整理他們東西的時候,小老頭拿下了鞋盒,帶到妻子的床邊。她同意打開,現在是他該知道鞋盒中裝著什麼東西的時候了。他打開一看,發現是兩個針織洋娃娃和一疊95,000元美金現鈔。
He asked her about the contents. 他問她到底是怎麼回事。
'When we were to be married,' she said, ' my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and knit a doll.' 她說「當我們要結婚的時候,祖母告訴我,婚姻的幸福秘密是永遠不要爭執。她告訴我,如果有一天我生你的氣,我應該保持沉默,並編織一個洋娃娃。」
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. 小老頭非常感動,強忍著眼淚。在盒子中只有兩個精緻的洋娃娃。在這段生活和相愛的日子裡,她只生過兩次氣,他覺得充滿著幸福。
'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the dolls, but what about all of this money? 「親愛的」他說,「那是洋娃娃的解釋,但是這些錢又是怎麼回事?它從哪裡來的?」
'Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.' 「噢!」她說,「那是我賣洋娃娃的錢。」
3. 觀念: 我在中國的經驗,如果一個廠家能真正按圖施工,哪已經是中國最高品質,非常難以達到,我知道這個問題,因此有時候會偷偷把公差(tolerance)除以 2,但是最後還是沒有好結果。你到中國工廠參觀,每個人都告訴你他們檢察嚴格,這裡檢查,那裏檢查,到處檢查,然而不幸品質無法用檢查的手段獲得,品質是一種思維方式,你如何檢查到你不知道要檢查的地方呢?當你檢查到某個尺寸不合格時,你難道只有處理該不合格工件嗎?在中國工廠裡我們經常說 They don't have a quality program. 美國說得更露骨,他們說:Monkey see, monkey do. 你就知道問題在哪裡。
The following pictures are of the same place but taken in different seasons...
下面的照片是同一個地點在不同季節所拍攝的照片。。。。。
Lessons on Life 生命的功課
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. 有一個人,他有四個兒子。 他希望他的兒子能夠學會不要太快對事情下結論, 所以,他依次給他四個孩子一個問題, 要他們分別出去遠方看一顆桃子樹。
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. 大兒子在冬天前往,二兒子在春天, 三兒子在夏天,小兒子則是在秋天前往。
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. 當他們都前去也都返家之後, 他把他們一起叫到跟前形容他們所看到的情景, 大兒子說那棵數很醜、枯槁、扭曲。
The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. 二兒子則說,不是這樣子, 這棵樹被青青的嫩芽所覆蓋,充滿了盼望。
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. 三兒子不同意,他說樹上花朵綻放、充滿香氣, 看起來十分美麗,這美景事他從來不曾見到過的。
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment. 小兒子不同意他們三人的說法。 他說樹上結滿了果子、累累下垂。 充滿了生命果子與豐收。
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. 這個人就對他四個兒子說:你們都是正確的。 因為你們四個人是在這棵樹的四個不同季節前往, 並且只看到其中一個季節的風景。
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. 他告訴兒子們不可用一個季節的風景來評斷一棵樹或是一個人, 關於構成一個人是怎樣的一個人的要件,還有一個人生命的 歡愉、喜樂、愛,只能在他生命的盡頭時候來做衡量。
If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. 當你在冬天時候就放棄, 你就會錯過你生命春天的盼望、夏天的美麗、秋天的收成。
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. 不要讓一個季節的痛苦毀掉其他季節的喜樂。
Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later. 不要因為一個痛苦的季節就對人生下結論, 持守忍耐度過這段艱難,美好的日子將在不久之後來到。
像19世紀的英國藍賽爵士Sir William Ramsag,因為不信聖經所記載的真實性,決定親自調查打算以考古證據推翻聖經,
他認為使徒行傳是最有漏洞,是聖經中最弱,最容易攻破的一點
,因此按著使徒行傳的使徒腳蹤用了十五年的時間組織考古團隊進行發掘研究,
1896 年他發表了一巨著,書名為「旅行家聖保羅和羅馬的百姓」,
一個懷疑者,反成了近代一個為新約聖經的權威供獻最多的人.
請參考英國的藍賽爵士 ( Sir William Ramsag)
我們應謹慎不要成為懷疑者
但比懷疑者更可怕的是甚麼都信的「信」徒,這樣的人,與拜偶像無異,沒有定見,最容易被異端擄走
教會更有責任不要把信徒變成不用腦筋的蠢人,害人害己
"There were giants in the land in those days..." Gen.6:4. (創6:4) Remember the old testament story of how the Israelites were afraid because of the GIANTS in the land of Canaan. (迦南地的巨人) Numbers (民)13:33 There we saw the GIANTS (the descendants of Anak 亞納族came from the GIANTS); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
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