Troubling Times
令人不安的時代

At the conclusion of this last political election (ending with my beloved country being more divided than ever) a friend wrote me a letter sharing her fears and concerns for the future. She ended it with this sentence: “We live in troubling times.” I couldn’t help but agree with her, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that these current times aren’t the only troubling times that mankind has lived through.
這次大選結(jié)束了，我摯愛的國家從未如此分裂過，而在結(jié)束之時，我的一位朋友給我寫了一封信，向我訴說她的恐懼以及對未來的擔憂。而最后她以這句話結(jié)尾：“我們生活在令人不安的時代?！蔽曳浅Ｍ馑挠^點，但我更多地意識到的是，人類自古至今都會經(jīng)歷令人不安的時代，不僅僅是當今的時代。

Ancient times were troubling times when crops could fail and half of all children died before the age of five.?The first Christians lived in troubling times where they were?persecuted,?tortured, and even killed for their beliefs.?
遠古時代是個令人不安的時代，莊稼可能歉收，一半的孩子會因此在5歲前死去。第一代基督徒也生活在動蕩的時代，他們會因為堅持自己的信仰而被迫害、折磨、甚至殺死。

The fall of the Roman empire and the coming of the dark ages were troubling times.?
羅馬帝國的衰落和黑暗時代的到來也是多事之秋。

The Bubonic plague killed half of Europe and the rest struggled with starvation and petty wars.?
黑死病害死了一半的歐洲人，而剩下的一半人則在饑餓和頻繁的戰(zhàn)爭中掙扎。

The hundred years war, the crusades, the American and French revolutions, the Napoleonic and American Civil wars were all troubling times where hundreds of thousands died.?
英法百年戰(zhàn)爭，十字軍東征，美國和法國革命，拿破侖戰(zhàn)爭期和美國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)時期都是令人不安的時期，期間死了成千上萬的人。

In World War I and World War II those thousands became millions. With the end of them the Cold war with its threat of nuclear destruction made for more troubling times.?Then came the troubling times of terrorism and the fear they bring.?
在一戰(zhàn)和二戰(zhàn)時期更是有數(shù)百萬人喪生。隨著這些戰(zhàn)亂的結(jié)束，冷戰(zhàn)又帶來了核毀滅的威脅，開始了一段生靈涂炭的時期。

In addition to these were the troubling times that included the struggles of slavery, segregation, prejudice, poverty, greed, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, the struggle for equal rights, the loss of jobs and security, population explosions, natural disasters, the threat of starvation, the risk of epidemics, and even the fate of our planet being at risk.
接著是恐怖主義時期，引發(fā)了大批群眾的恐懼。除了這些，還有奴隸制、種族隔離、種族歧視、貧窮、貪婪的斗爭，以及經(jīng)濟大蕭條，經(jīng)濟大衰退，爭取平等權(quán)利、工作和安全的斗爭，人口爆炸、自然災害、饑荒，遭遇傳染病，甚至我們的地球也處于險境。

It is clear then that we do live in troubling times and that we always have lived in troubling times. The question is how are we going to LIVE in them. Are we going to feed them with our fear or lessen them with our love? Are we going to grow apart in hatred or come together in kindness? Are we going to continue to go from war to war or are we finally going to bring lasting peace to this planet? Are we going to grab for ourselves or are we going to give to others? Are we going to be selfish or are we going to save the world? The choice is ours. I think we all know, however, which choice our Heavenly Father wants us to make. May we all then make our troubling times less troubled by living our lives in love, joy, goodness, kindness, and oneness with God.
很明顯，我們生活在令人不安的時代并且一直如此。但真正的問題是我們?nèi)绾卧谶@樣的時代中更好地生活。我們是要以恐懼的心態(tài)面對它，還是用我們的愛來化解這些不安？我們是要在仇恨中彼此孤立，還是友好地攜手共進呢？我們是要繼續(xù)不斷挑起戰(zhàn)爭，還是給這個星球帶來持久的和平？我們是自私地占有，還是慷慨地給予？我們是要繼續(xù)自私下去，還是去拯救世界？選擇權(quán)在我們自己手中。我想大家都知道我們的神父希望我們做出怎樣的選擇。只要讓我們的生活中多點愛、快樂、善良、仁慈，和與神合一的心智，就能使困擾我們生活的問題簡單化。

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