水自流

周五的English Corner如期在James & Carole 家举行，总共10人，来自不同地区和不同行业，因此水平参差不齐，不清楚这样的情况是否会对某些朋友帮助不大，但是有些反馈从某个方面证实了这个猜测。谢谢James 和 Carole 抽出时间来为素不相识的朋友提供这样一个机会，希望能够对大家有所帮助。下面是昨晚的材料，又是时间问题，但是这篇跟时间的利用有点篇，不过这也是我一直以来没有做好的方面。Grasshopper的性格是属于那种happy go lucky的，而ants则是industrious。

The Grasshopper and the Ants

This is a well-known story by Aesop that teaches us a lot about using our time wisely:

The merry notes of the violin which the grasshopper was playing floated on the air and reached the place where the ants were busy collecting food.

‘It’s the grasshopper again!’ they said. ‘He’s always playing that violin of his. He never seems to do any work.’ Just then the grasshopper danced by. He stopped when he saw the ants. ‘Why are you working on such a beautiful spring day?’ he asked. ‘Why aren’t you dancing and singing?’

‘We must collect our food now,’ said the Queen of the ants. ‘If we don’t, what will we do when the winter comes?’ ‘Oh, winter’s a long way off,’ said the grasshopper. ‘You take life much too seriously.’

‘But you must work today if you want to eat tomorrow,’ said another ant. ‘You can play your violin when you have finished,’ said another as the little ants scurried busily about.

The grasshopper didn’t want to heed their advice. ‘Go on with your work, my little friends,’ he said. ‘I’m going to dance in the meadow in the sun.’ And so the grasshopper left the busy ants and went on his way, singing.

The spring soon passed and the warm days of summer came. All day long the grasshopper played his violin in the shade of the bright summer flowers, or lazily sat in the sun, or slept on a blade of grass. But the summer was soon over, the days began to get colder and the leaves turned from green to brown and fell from the trees. Many of the animals began their winter sleep.

One morning the grasshopper woke up and was surprised to see that snow had fallen during the night. He shivered and looked for a green leaf for food. But although he searched and searched he could not find a thing. The land was covered with a thick carpet of snow and the ground underneath was as hard as iron. The long winter had come. ‘Oh dear, oh dear! What shall I do?’ cried the grasshopper. ‘I shall die of hunger, I shall freeze to death!’ The grasshopper wandered around looking for a place to keep warm but there was no such place. ‘How silly I was not listen to the ants. While I am dying of cold and hunger they are sitting in their warm house with plenty to eat.’

And sobbing loudly the grasshopper sat down in the snow. The ants heard his sad cry and as they were really kind creatures they came hurrying to help him. By this time the poor grasshopper was frozen stiff. The ants picked him up and carried him back to their nest. The ants cared for the grasshopper until he felt better and the spring had returned again. Never did the grasshopper forget the lesson he had been taught.

Questions for discussion:
1. How long you spend every day on important tasks (work or study, sleep, eating)?
2. How do you usually spend your free time (on weekdays, on weekends)?
3. How much of your free time is well spent and how much frittered away?
4. What are some good things to do with our time?
5. How can you organize your time better?
6. What is the meaning of “procrastination”? Do you ever procrastinate? Give examples
7. Based on our discussion, make a plan for your free time this weekend. Talk about your plan.

Neda在街头被射杀，使她成为反伊朗政府的一面旗帜。在Facebook上收到巴哈伊社区的一封信，主要是让信徒不要在facebook上发表政治言论，如果要上街游行，也不宜用伊朗政府为目标，只能以个人名义参加，而且必须是与和平等无关政治的主题 －－如果我没有理解错的话。一开始，巴哈伊信仰就告诉信徒不要与政府为敌。有些教规我并不是很了解，比如等会要跟大家分享的一段文字中就有让我困扰的内容。

上个周五在Margaret的店铺里头恢复了每月的读书会，内容是关于阿博都巴哈的事迹。就个人而言，上面的链接并不是了解巴哈伊的一个好的途径，因为，这本《完美的典范》更多的是一小段一小段的堆彻。

大概半年前开始每个月有两个中文聚集会，一个是在May Bong家，另外一个是在Tze Hong 和 Jing Lan家。上周六如往常一样，Jing Lan为大家准备了好吃的食物，然后分享下面一段关于巴哈欧拉的故事：

人类未来的高贵

人类是顽固而有叛逆性的，他们的生命里充满了过错和罪恶，但由于上帝是慈悲的，所以祂宽恕了祂的仆人。真确的，要不是上帝的恩典，祂是不会创造万物的，而人类也不能在今世或来世获得进步。但是，充塞宇宙万物的神恩是不会施与那些既承认上帝的显圣，却有明知故犯地反对祂的人。事实上，这种违反上帝圣约的行为是不可原谅的，这会给他的生命带来死亡－－除非他真心忏悔转向上帝。巴哈欧拉启示的目的就是要创造一种可以显现致为崇高的属性与道德的新人类。人类未来之高贵可以由下面一篇故事看出来：

。。。有一次，一群波斯王子到了巴哈欧拉跟前，巴哈欧拉和他们谈话并且很亲切的询问他们国内的新闻。交谈当中，一位王子说：“为什么在你的朋友面前，你和他们谈灵性的事，而和我们谈的却是市井闲话呢？”他的意思是问，这些没有知识，没有见识的市井小民怎么优于我们呢？巴哈欧拉回答说：

“。。。我可以告诉你什么人才值得到我跟前倾听我的话语。假如有一个人被带到一片平原上去，他的右边放置了这个世界上所有的光荣，所有的乐趣和舒适，再加上一个永存而不受侵袭又不哀伤的统权；左边则放置着永恒不止的灾难，艰困，痛苦和巨大的责难。这时假设圣灵出现在这个人的面前并对他说：‘如果你选择了右边的永恒快乐而不是左边的灾难，你在上帝眼里的地位不会受到任何减损。反之，如果你选择了左边而宁愿遭受无数的灾难，你在上帝的眼里的地位也不会有任何增添。‘，这时这个人至为渴望，至为热忱的选择了左边，那他就有资格到我跟前聆听我崇高的话语。此时，伟大之舌对慕道者说：’如果你的目标是珍惜你的生命，就不要趋近我们的天庭；但如果你内心渴望是牺牲，就让你和其它的人一起来吧！如果你的内心寻求与我重聚，这就是信仰之道；如果你拒绝行走这条道路，又何必来打扰我们呢？走开吧。‘“巴哈欧拉又对他说：“在这个充满暴君和叛逆者的腐败世界里，他们的残暴与压迫行为阻碍了全人类的和平与安宁，我降世的目的就在于透过上帝的力量与权柄，建立起正义，信任，安全和信仰的力量；比如说（将来）有一位妇女拥有举世无双的美貌，身上装饰着至为精巧无价的珠宝，不戴面纱，独自从世界的东边旅行到西边去，经过许多地方，旅行过各个国家，那时的正义，可靠，信仰的标准会如此的高，且没有叛逆和堕落的行为，以致不会有人抢劫她的东西或。。。“然后巴哈欧拉确认地说：“透过上帝的力量，我要将世人置于那崇高的地位，为全人类开启这扇至大之门。”

在这方面，巴哈欧拉启示了下面这段有关巴哈子民的话：

“那些到了一座充满黄金的山谷而能将之视为浮云，径直通过，既不回头又不停止的人才是我的真信徒。这种人真正属于我。天上的会众可以从他衣袍上闻到神圣的芬芳。。。如果他碰到最美丽的女人，他的内心不会受到欲望的半点诱惑。”

巴哈欧拉继续和王子说：

“关于动机的诚恳和行为的纯洁方面，伟大之舌如此说：‘假如有一位非常富有的人，他的财富多得无法估量。又假设这位富人在一段时间里逐渐把许多财富给了一位穷人。。。结果他变成一个穷人，而那为穷人呢反而变得非常富有。。。再假设，他在这既贫且困的情况下又负了债；由于无法清偿，他被带到公共的广场上羞辱和处罚。他接到通知说，除非清偿债务，否则便不能获释。这时假如他看到那位变富的朋友，他心里闪过一丝念头，期望这位朋友此时会感恩图报，前来解救他，他的所有善行就会立刻化为乌有，他就会被剥夺自足和默从的德行，并于人类的灵性道德隔绝。

对那位变成富人的人来说也一样，如果他心里认为那变穷人的朋友从前对他有无尽的仁慈和爱心，所以他有义务清偿他的债务，解除他的困厄，使他的余生得以在舒适中度过；这种动机使他回报了那位朋友，如此会剥夺他的诚恳之杯，使他落入耻辱的世界。

唯一能被上帝接受的方式就是，前一位富人的善举是基于人道原则，为了上帝而做的；同理，第二位富人也应该为了人世，为了上帝而行善举，而非为过去或未来的一些事由而做。因此有启示道：‘我们因上帝之故而培育你的灵魂，不是为了你的报答活酬谢’。。。”

我要说两点：
1. 上面的翻译不是很好
2. 滴水之恩当涌泉相报