435 期 2010.07 中英對照小品
克服死亡的恐懼
Vanquish Fear of Death！
作者 / 比爾高達　譯 / 顧美芬

我很喜歡講這個故事：醫生對一個人說，他只剩下很短的壽命。這人一想到將死得平平凡凡，就很害怕，因為他夢想能有個英雄式的死亡。結果，他的機會來了！

他住的鎮上發生搶案，警察把小店包圍，但搶匪挾持人質在裡面。這人告訴警長，他願意進去拯救人質。警長說：「你會被打死的！」他回答：「我不怕。你知道為什麼嗎？因為我很快就要死了。」

在警長允許之下，這人勇敢地走進小店，而且筆直地走向搶匪。搶匪被這人的大膽震懾住了，以為還有別人在店裡，於是投降，同時釋放了人質。幾天之後，醫生打電話請這人回醫院，告訴他：「我誤讀了你的檢驗結果，你並不是快要死了。」從此，這人失去原先的膽量，因為他把焦點再次放在繼續活下去，而不是死亡上面。

世上最有能力的人就是不怕死的人！

我的生命在青少年時經歷一個轉捩點，就是在我決定願意為信仰而死的時候。從那時候開始，我就很興奮地和時間賽跑，並總是問自己：「在與上帝面對面之前，我還能為祂完成多少事？」

I enjoy telling the story of a man whose doctor informed him he had only a short time to live. He dreaded the thought of just an “ordinary death” and dreamed of dying for some heroic cause. Then, his chance came!

A robbery took place in his town. The police had the store surrounded, but the robber was holding hostages inside. The man told the police chief that he would like to go in and rescue the hostages. The chief said, “You will be killed!” The man replied, “I am not afraid. You see, I am going to die soon anyway.”

With permission, the man walked boldly into the store and headed straight toward the thief. The robber was so shocked by the man's boldness that he assumed others were also in the store and surrendered—releasing his hostages! A few days later, the doctor called the man back and told him, “I misread your test results. You will not be dying soon.” The man then lost his boldness as he focused once again on living rather than dying.

The most powerful people on the face of the earth are those who have no fear of death!

As a teenager, a turning point in my life took place when I purposed to be willing to die for my faith. Since then I have been in an exciting race against time, always asking myself, “How much can I get done for the Lord before I meet Him face to face?”

……(文未完，請見2010年07月雜誌)