Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer.
This change has to do with the inevitability of cold winds that hit us at the core. I know my children are going to encounter hardship, and I’m praying they won’t be naive. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere.
So I’m changing my prayer. Because life is tough, whether we want it to be or not. Too many times we pray for ease, but that’s a prayer seldom met. What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into 18)the Eternal, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be 19)swept 20)asunder.
在我还是小孩子的时候,我有一个老邻居叫吉布斯医生。他不像我所认识的任何一个医生。我们在他的院子里玩耍,他从不对我们大喊大叫。我记得他是一个非常和蔼的人。
吉布斯医生不拯救人性命的时候就去种树。他的住所占地10英亩,他的人生目标就是将它变成一片森林。
他还告诉我用水浇灌的树的根是如何的浅,而那些没有浇水的树的根必须钻入深深的泥土获得水分。我将他的话理解为:深根是十分宝贵的。