今天早上的帖子，我覺得要跟elisha念英文的還是要好好念一念：

This is a passage I came across recently, which I was touched by the effusive emotion behind the lines. My life is going through a little bit recuperation in a sense that I need to revamp my perception about God and my own life principles. And this small vignette does capture what I expected to some degree, and this explains why I would like to share with you and ask you to get out of the dismal perspective you may be holding. --Elisha L.

Excerpt from the end of the book by Peggy Noonan

It gave me a small epiphany, one I've had before -- a deja vu epiphany about unexpected gaiety and the lift it brings. I found myself absurdly moved. It reminded me of what most of us, really, know: that pessimism and despair are childish, that the only realistic stance toward life is optimism. Because we always survive. Through the most terrible and horrendous moments of human history, through all the purges, long marches, wars, gulags and flood, we survive and go on and increase and make our rude progress. A family begins, a baby is born, a young man gets out of law school and puts up a shingle, a lady in a ball dress is applauded and curtsies back in tribute.

When I got home I thought of words that sometimes roll like a tape through my mind; I found the book in a bookcase and looked for the wise old man of Ecclesiastes. Some find his words depressing, but I do not find them so. It's just another way of saying that in spite of the facts, in spite of who we are, we go on and increase and endure.

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. ... That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun ... I the Preacher was king over Isreal in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven ... I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind ... "

I think this: That we are all inadequate players in an incompetent drama, that defeat is part of the s_cript, you can't escape it, it's not part of life, it's the essence of life -- so you might as well just do your best and give your love and know your God and do you work. And be good to your troupe. Amen

epiphany: (1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery

deja vu: the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time

gulag: a Russian prison camp for political prisoners

shingle: a small signboard especially designating a professional office

curtsy: an act of civility, respect, or reverence made mainly by women and consisting of a slight lowering of the body with bending of the knees

tribute: something (as material evidence or a for-mal attestation) that indicates the worth, virtue, or effectiveness of the one in question

troupe: group of theatrical perfor_mers