【英语情感故事】谁为我们准备心灵降落伞

Who Is Packing Our Spiritual Parachute?
谁为我们准备心灵降落伞
            By Joe Gatuslao, author and evangelist, the Philippines

Charles "Chuck" Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam.After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by asurface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemyhands. He was captured and spent six years in a communistVietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures onthe lessons he learned from that experience.

查尔斯．恰克．帕朗柏是越战中美国海军的一位喷射机驾驶员。在完成了七十五次战役任务后，他的飞机被一枚地对空飞弹击毁，帕朗柏跳伞逃命，却降落在敌方阵营里，他被越共俘虏并被关在监狱里六个月，之后，他从这场苦难中成功逃生。现在，他为人们演讲有关他从经历中所学到的功课。

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at anothertable came up and said, "You"re Plumb! You flew jet fighters inVietnam from the Aircraft Carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shotdown!"
有一天，当帕朗柏和妻子在一家餐厅用餐时，隔壁桌一位先生走过来说道：「你是帕朗柏！在越战中，你驾驶从小鹰号航空母舰上起飞的喷射战机，当时你的战机被飞弹打下来了！」

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "Ipacked your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped insurprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "Iguess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chutehadn"t worked, I wouldn"t be here today."

帕朗柏问：「你怎么知道这件事的？」这位先生回答：「你的降落伞是我负责打包整理的。」帕朗柏惊讶地倒抽了一口气，立即向他表示谢意。这位先生使劲地握着帕朗柏的手说：「我想那个降落伞确实发挥了功效！」帕朗柏向他确认道：「它的确发挥了功效，否则我今天就不会在这里了。」

Plumb couldn"t sleepthat night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I keptwondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: awhite hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonderhow many times I might have seen him and not even said, "Goodmorning, how are you?" or anything because, you see, I was afighter pilot and he was "just" a sailor." Plumb thought of themany hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in thebowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and foldingthe silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fateof someone he didn"t know.

那一晚帕朗柏无法入睡，心中一直想着那位先生。帕朗柏说：
「我一直在想，当他穿着海军制服──戴着白帽、穿着工作
背心和喇叭裤时，会是什么模样呢？有多 少次当我看到他时，
可能连一句『早安，你好吗？』之类打招呼的话都没有说，
因为我是战机驾驶，而他『只是』一位水手而已。」帕朗柏
想到那位水手在船内的长木桌上，花了无数个小时，小心翼翼
地整理着吊伞索，并一一迭好每个降落伞，每一次他的手里都
掌握着某个他不认识的人的命运。

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who"spacking your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides whatthey need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out thathe needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot downover enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, hismental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritualparachute. He called on all these supports before reachingsafety.

现在，帕朗柏总会问着听众：「是谁帮你们打包『降落伞』呢？」我们每个人的「降落伞」都是由别人供应，而为了打包这些「降落伞」，他们可能必需工作一整天。帕朗柏也指出当他的飞机在敌人领空被打下来时，他需要各种不同的降落伞：物质的降落伞、精神的降落伞、情感的降落伞和心灵的降落伞，在安全抵达地面之 前，他需要这些降落伞的支持。

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, wemiss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please,or thank you, to congratulate people on something wonderful thathas happened to them, to give a compliment, or just to dosomething nice for no reason. As you go through this week, thismonth, and this year, recognize people who pack your parachutesand send them your gratitude.

我们每天面临生活中的挑战，有时候会遗漏了一些真正重要的事情。
对于周遭的人，我们可能会忘了向他们打声招呼、说个「请」字或
表达谢意，或是当某个人遇到好事时，忘了祝贺他、讲些赞美的话，
或是单纯地做一些表达善意的行动。每当你过了一段时 间后，也许
是这个星期、这个月或今年时，请试着找出那些帮你打包「降落伞」的人，并向他们致上谢意！

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