我陪他們走到車站,一路上妹醬一直依偎著我,妹醬也說:媽媽,我怕我會很想妳,晚上我可能會感到寂寞而哭泣,還有,我很怕我沒辦法在湖裡游泳…(夏令營行程之一)。聽妹醬訴說著她總總的擔憂,我跟她說:老實說,妳自己說要參加這次的露營,我跟爸爸都很驚訝,但是也為妳的勇氣感到驕傲!覺得很害怕沒有關係,媽媽也有害怕的時候,但是妳能帶著恐懼繼續前進,這份勇氣非常不容易。I am sure I will really miss you but I don’t worry !Because I know you will be fine and have a good experience. (我一定會很想妳,但我不擔心妳,因為我知道妳會沒事,而且能夠擁有一個很好的體驗),在車站前,我緊緊抱住她,在她額頭上和臉上給她無數個親親,說我很愛她,然後看著T先生牽著淚眼婆娑的妹醬,淹沒在車站人潮裡。
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. 你的孩子不是你的,他們是「生命」的子女,是生命自身的渴望。他們經你而生,但非出自於你,他們雖然和你在一起,卻不屬於你。
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. 你可以給他們愛,但別把你的思想也給他們,因為他們有自己的思想;你的房子可以供他們安身,但無法讓他們的靈魂安住,因為他們的靈魂住在明日之屋,那裡你去不了,哪怕是在夢中;你可以勉強自己變得像他們,但不要想讓他們變得像你,因為生命不會倒退,也不會駐足於昨日。
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. 你好比一把弓,孩子是從你身上射出的生命之箭。弓箭手看見無窮路徑上的箭靶,於是祂大力拉彎你這把弓,希望祂的箭能射得又快又遠。
Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. 欣然屈服在神的手中吧,因為祂既愛那疾飛的箭,也愛那穩定的弓。