Troubling Times

令人不安的时代

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.

这次大选结束了，我挚爱的国家从未如此分裂过，而在结束之时，我的一位朋友给我写了一封信，向我诉说她的恐惧以及对未来的担忧。而最后她以这句话结尾：“我们生活在令人不安的时代。”我非常同意她的观点，但我更多地意识到的是，人类自古至今都会经历令人不安的时代，不仅仅是当今的时代。

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. 

远古时代是个令人不安的时代，庄稼可能歉收，一半的孩子会因此在5岁前死去。第一代基督徒也生活在动荡的时代，他们会因为坚持自己的信仰而被迫害、折磨、甚至杀死。

The fall of the Roman empire and the coming of the dark ages were troubling times. 

罗马帝国的衰落和黑暗时代的到来也是多事之秋。

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欧洲人，而剩下的一半人则在饥饿和频繁的战争中挣扎。

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. 

英法百年战争，十字军东征，美国和法国革命，拿破仑战争期和美国内战时期都是令人不安的时期，期间死了成千上万的人。

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. 

在一战和二战时期更是有数百万人丧生。随着这些战乱的结束，冷战又带来了核毁灭的威胁，开始了一段生灵涂炭的时期。

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.

接着是恐怖主义时期，引发了大批群众的恐惧。除了这些，还有奴隶制、种族隔离、种族歧视、贫穷、贪婪的斗争，以及经济大萧条，经济大衰退，争取平等权利、工作和安全的斗争，人口爆炸、自然灾害、饥荒，遭遇传染病，甚至我们的地球也处于险境。

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.

很明显，我们生活在令人不安的时代并且一直如此。但真正的问题是我们如何在这样的时代中更好地生活。我们是要以恐惧的心态面对它，还是用我们的爱来化解这些不安？我们是要在仇恨中彼此孤立，还是友好地携手共进呢？我们是要继续不断挑起战争，还是给这个星球带来持久的和平？我们是自私地占有，还是慷慨地给予？我们是要继续自私下去，还是去拯救世界？选择权在我们自己手中。我想大家都知道我们的神父希望我们做出怎样的选择。只要让我们的生活中多点爱、快乐、善良、仁慈，和与神合一的心智，就能使困扰我们生活的问题简单化。