Occasionally my mother used to announce that she was going to take time out from the day's activities "to rest," she would say, "and to invite my soul." She always put the phrase in quotes, in order, I expect, to divert the facetious remarks which might arise from the worldly or practical-minded folk within earshot or disarm those who might feel "soul" was a Sunday word not to be used in everyday conversation.

　　But she meant to do exactly what she said, "invite my soul."

　　The pressure of the modern world is so great upon us today that we find little time for rest, physical rest, let alone leisure for spiritual reception. Thus, when we take the word "soul" out of its Sunday clothes it is unfamiliar to us, we don't know it very well.

　　We may have different interpretations of the meaning of the word; to some it may mean "conscience," to others that part of our being given us with life.

　　I believe with Dr. Schweitzer in the sanctity of life, that the miracle called life, which cannot be manufactured by man, does come from a source which we call God, and that life and soul are the same. And yet when I am asked point-blank, "What do you believe?" I hedge and play for time in my confusion by saying, "Well, now, that's a pretty big question."

　　It is not altogether the pressure of the modern world which has clouded our comprehension; "the simple faith of our fathers" got a nasty jolt when Copernicus propounded his theory that the sun and stars did not revolve around the earth and that therefore man was not the sole object of celestial concern.

　　Darwin dealt another blow and Freud's search into the operations of our hidden selves shook our conviction that man could be made in the image of God.

　　It might be said that such matters affect only dogma and not belief, and yet the mounting complexities of man's discoveries about himself and the world he lives in increase so with the years it is little wonder man cries out for something simple and enduring in which to believe.

　　As in moments of great grief the reeling emotions steady themselves by concentrating upon small physical occupations - the careful tying of a shoelace, the straightening of a crooked picture on the wall, the tidy folding of a napkin - so I believe, in this heartbreaking world, in tending to the simple familiar chores which lie at hand.

　　I believe I must keep my doorstep clean, I must tidy up my own backyard. I need keep only the two great commandments to live by: to respect the Giver of Life, and my duty towards my neighbor.

　　I believe that people deeply revere these two commandments (upon which hang all the laws and the prophets) and suffer personal distress when they are broken. When the property owners in South San Francisco refuse to let a Chinese family move into their district, when flaming crosses are burned and when the homes of decent people are bombed, we are all aware that our own doorsteps have been sullied and the human neighborhood besmirched.

　　If I am too puny to grasp the cosmic contours I believe I can at leave live my faith within my own small orbit, gaining in strength from others until that time when all men can rest - and invite their souls.

　　從前，我母親不斷會發布她要在天天的事務中抽出點時間來“休息”一下——“我要招待自己的靈魂”，她說這些話時老是用手勢做個引號。我猜這是由于她不想被那些圓滑或講究實際的家伙聽到后開她的玩笑，或是讓那些感到“靈魂”這個詞僅僅在星期日才會用的人釋懷。

　　但母親所想的和她所說確實實是一回事，也就是“要招待自己的靈魂”。

　　現代社會帶給我們太多的壓力，讓我們簡直找不到時間讓身材得到休息，更不必說抽時光來招待自己的心靈。所以，當我們脫下“靈魂”這個詞的宗教外衣，它就變得如此生疏，我們并未真正懂得它。

　　我們對“靈魂”這個詞也許有不同的懂得：有人認為它指的是“良心”，有人認為它是指我們生命中生而有之的那一局部。

　　我認同史懷哲醫生的觀點，認為生命是神圣的，生命這一奇觀不可能來自人類的發明，它的源頭就是我們所說的上帝，而性命和靈魂本就是一體的�？墒�，當有人開門見山地問我，“你的信仰是什么?”我不免有些困惑，只好支支吾吾、閃耀其詞地說，“哦，這個嘛，這是個很復雜的問題”。

　　我們意識上的迷惑并不完整來自古代社會帶來的壓力。哥白尼提出太陽跟星辰并非繚繞著地球轉，這一實踐重大搖動了“咱們祖輩單純的信奉”，如斯一來，人類不再是上天獨一的眷顧。

　　達爾文又給了人們當頭一棒，弗洛伊德對人們暗藏的自我所進行的摸索再次動搖了我們對于人可能是依照上帝的形象所創造出來的信念。

　　這些興許只影響到教義而非信奉，但跟著這些年來人們對本身以及世界的認識日趨深刻、日漸龐雜，人們為何需要某種簡略而長久的信奉便絕不奇異了。

　　在極度悲傷的時候，目不轉睛做些瑣事能夠平復自己繚亂的情感——仔細心細地系好鞋帶，把墻上傾斜的丹青掛正，或是將餐巾疊得整整潔齊。同樣，在這個令人傷心的世界上，我們也應把手邊那些司空見慣的日常瑣事處置好。

　　我以為我應該把自家門前打掃清潔，我應當堅持自家后院的整齊。我只須要遵守兩條最主要的訓誡，一是對造物主心存尊重，一是對鄰里盡到職責。

　　我信任這兩條訓誡深得人們的敬畏(所有的法律與預言都樹立在這兩條訓誡之上)，而當它們被損壞時人們就會陷入苦痛之中。當三藩市南部的居民不讓一家中國人搬入他們社區時，當十字架在熊熊火焰中焚燒、仁慈人的家園被炸毀時，我們都意識到自家的家門口受到了玷辱，人類的社區已變得齷齪。

　　假如弱小的我無奈控制宇宙的特點，至少我能在本人窄小的軌道里按我的信心生涯，從其余人那里取得力氣，直到有一天所有的人都能休息一下——去接待自己的靈魂。

本文來自：逍遙右腦記憶 /lizhi/293152.html

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