When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than circumstances warranted.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life's goal was to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant husbandry. He came from the “No pain, no gain school of horticulture. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you water them, each successive tree generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out the weenie trees early on.
He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.
So he never watered his trees. He'd plant an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he'd beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.
Dr. Gibbs went to glory a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They're granite strong now. Big and robust. Those trees wake up in the morning and beat their chests and drink their coffee black.
I planted a couple of trees a few years back. Carried water to them for a solid summer. Sprayed them. Prayed over them. The whole nine yards. Two years of coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows in, they tremble and chatter their branches. Sissy trees.
Funny things about those trees of Dr. Gibbs'. Adversity and deprivation seemed to benefit them in ways comfort and ease never could.
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 the Eternal, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be swept asunder.
(编辑:何佩琦)
浙江卫视公布《奔跑吧兄弟》第四季阵容
[娱乐时尚]《时代》十问好莱坞著名演员阿尔·帕西诺
[娱乐时尚] 电话的末日
娱乐资讯:千真万确:杰克逊头发变钻石
英国将于今年6月通过公投决定是否"脱欧"
与奥斯卡奖无缘的20名伟大演员
李克强敦促各部委积极回应舆论关切
联合国前秘书长加利逝世 Former UN secretary-general Boutros Bout
韩国敦促公民勿进朝鲜海外餐厅
大表姐劳伦斯成最吸金奥斯卡候选人
中国政府将放宽"绿卡"政策
国外专家:小李子获2016奥斯卡影帝"无悬念"
教皇与特朗普围绕筑墙对撕
川普在内华达州共和党初选中轻松获胜
黑人演什么才能获得奥斯卡青睐
川普淡化教宗对其移民政策的批评
萨顶顶拿反话筒暴露假唱 自黑下次演得更精细
关于"奥斯卡获奖感言"的8个趣事
奥巴马将于3月访问古巴 Barack Obama to visit Cuba
[娱乐时尚] 您的私人睡眠教练
[娱乐时尚] 10位大腕的至理名言
奥巴马总统定于下月访问古巴
阿萨德:叙利亚愿意协助落实停火计划
希拉里面临关键考验 Hillary Clinton's big complicated worl
小女孩因奥巴马将卸任痛哭不止 总统亲自安慰
中国内地确认:停播香港电影金像奖颁奖典礼
《死侍》 骚浪贱款超级英雄
第88届奥斯卡完整双语获奖名单
乌干达总统和议会选举投票星期四正式开始
[娱乐时尚] 迈克尔杰克逊生前曾高价造氧舱,欲活150岁
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |