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這一年的耶誕節,富家子弟彼得從他哥哥那裡得到了一輛作為耶誕節禮物的新車。一天,彼得看到一名男孩正在他那輛閃閃發亮的新車旁走來走去,並時不時地觸摸它,滿臉羡慕的神情。
彼得饒有興趣地看著這個小男孩,從他的衣著來看,他的家庭很一般,就在這時,小男孩抬起頭問到:“先生,這是你的車嗎?”
“是啊,”彼得說,“我哥哥給我的聖誕禮物。”
小男孩睜大了眼睛:“你是說,這是你哥哥給你的,而你不用花一分錢?”
彼得點點頭。
小男孩說:“哇!我希望……”
彼得以為小男孩希望自己也有這樣的哥哥,但小男孩說出的卻是:“我希望自己也能當這樣的哥哥。”
彼得深受感動的看著這個小男孩,然後他問:“要不要坐我的新車去兜風?”小男孩驚喜萬分地答應了。
逛了一會之後,小男孩轉身向彼得說:“先生,能不能麻煩你把車開到我家前面?”
彼得微微一笑,他理解小男孩的想法:“坐一輛大而漂亮的車子回家,在小朋友面前是很神氣的事,但他又想錯了。
“麻煩你停在兩個臺階那裡,等我一下好嗎?”
小男孩跳下車,跑回家,不一會兒他出來了,並帶著一個顯然是他弟弟的小孩,他因患小兒麻痹而跛著一隻腳,他把弟弟安置在下邊的臺階上,自己緊靠著坐下,然後指著彼得的車子說:
“看見了嗎?這是他哥哥送給他的聖誕禮物,他不用花一分錢!將來有一天我也要送你一部和這一樣的車子,這樣你就可以看到我一直跟你講的櫥窗裡那些好看的聖誕禮物了。”
彼得的眼睛濕潤了,他走下車子,將小弟弟抱到車子的前排座位上,他的哥哥眼睛裡閃著喜悅的光芒,也爬了上來。於是,三人開始了一次令人難忘的短途旅程。
在這個耶誕節,彼得明白了一個道理:施比受有福

Selma1858年,瑞典的一個富豪人家生下了一個女兒。然而不久,孩子染患了一種無法解釋的癱瘓癥,喪失了走路的能力。
一次,女孩和家人一起乘船旅行。船長的太太給孩子講船長有一只天堂鳥,她被這只鳥的描述迷住了,極想親自看一看。於是保姆把孩子留在甲板上,自己去找船長。
孩子耐不住性子等待,她要求船上的服務生立即帶她去看天堂鳥。那服務生並不知道她的腿不能走路,而只顧帶著她一道去看那只美麗的小鳥。奇跡發生了,孩子因為過度地渴望,竟忘我地拉住服務生的手,慢慢地走了起來。從此,孩子的病便痊愈了。
女孩子長大後,又忘我地投入到文學創作中,最後成為第一位榮獲諾貝爾文學獎的女性,也就是茜爾瑪拉格蘿芙。 (Selma Lagerlöf)
忘我是走向成功的一條捷徑,只有在這種環境中,人纔會超越自身的束縛,釋放出最大的能量。

camperdown-elm-316360_1280有一個農場主為了方便拴牛,在莊園的一棵榆樹上箍了一個鐵圈。
隨著榆樹的長大,鐵圈慢慢嵌進了樹身,榆樹的表皮留下一道深深的傷痕。
有一年,當地發生了一種奇怪的植物真菌疫病,方圓幾十公里的榆樹全部死亡,唯獨那顆箍了鐵圈的榆樹卻存活下來。
為什麼這棵榆樹能倖存呢?植物學家對此產生了興趣,於是組織人員進行研究。結果發現,正是那個給榆樹帶來傷痕的鐵圈拯救了它。因為從鏽蝕的鐵圈裡吸收了大量鐵份,所以榆樹才對真菌產生了特殊的免疫力。
這是一個真實的故事,發生在上世紀五十年代美國的一個農場裡。這棵樹至今仍生長在美國密歇根州比猶拉縣附近的那個農場裡,充滿生機和活力。
不僅是樹,人也是如此。我們也許在生命中受過各種各樣的傷害,但這些傷害又成為生命的一道養料,讓生命變得更剛毅,更堅強,更充滿生機、活力和希望。同時也讓傷害成為一個警醒,讓我們及時從迷惑中解脫。
沒有人會無緣無故在你生命中出現。每一個在你生命裡出現的人,都有甚深的因緣。愛你的人給了你感動,你愛的人讓你學會奉獻,你不喜歡的人教會你寬容與接納,不喜歡你的人,促使你自省與成長。所以,如果你曾受過傷害,請感謝那些你認為傷害了你的人。
在人生的修行中,讓我們接納一切因緣,無論是順緣,還是逆緣,都是我們必修的功課。讓我們隨緣、惜緣、了緣,歷境煉心,自在而行。
Po Bronson, in his book WHY DO I LOVE THESE PEOPLE? (Random House, 2005), tells a true story about a magnificent elm tree. The tree was planted in the first half of the 20th Century on a farm near Beulah, Michigan (USA). It grew to be a magnificent tree.
In the 1950s, the family that owned the farm kept a bull chained to the elm. The bull paced around the tree, dragging a heavy iron chain with him, which scraped a trench in the bark about three feet off ground. The trench deepened over the years, though for whatever reason, did not kill the tree.
After some years, the family sold the farm and took their bull. They cut the chain, leaving the loop around the tree and one link hanging down. Over the years, bark slowly covered the rusting chain.
Then one year, agricultural catastrophe struck Michigan in the form of Dutch Elm Disease. It left a path of death across vast areas. All of the elms lining the road leading to the farm became infected and died. Everyone figured that old, stately elm would be next. There was no way the tree could last, between the encroaching fungus and its chain belt strangling its trunk.
The farm's owners considered doing the safe thing: pulling it out and chopping it up into firewood before it died and blew over onto the barn in a windstorm. But they simply could not bring themselves to do it. It was as if the old tree had become a family friend. So they decided to let nature take its course.
Amazingly, the tree did not die. Year after year it thrived. Nobody could understand why it was the only elm still standing in the county!
Plant pathologists from Michigan State University came out to observe the tree. They observed the scar left by the iron chain, now almost completely covered by bark and badly corroded.
The plant experts decided that it was the chain that saved the elm's life. They reasoned that the tree must have absorbed so much iron from the rusting chain, that it became immune to the fungus.
It's said that what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Or, as Ernest Hemingway put it, "Life breaks us all, but afterwards, many of us are strongest at the broken places."
The next time you're in Beulah, Michigan, look for that beautiful elm. It spans 60 feet across its lush, green crown. The trunk is about 12 feet in circumference.
Look for the wound made by the chain. It serves as a reminder that because of our wounds, we can have hope! Our wounds can give us resources we need to cope and survive. They can truly make us strong.