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古语云： “勿以恶小而为之，勿以善小而不为。”它告诫人们不要因为恶事很小就去做，也不要因为善事很小，就不屑于去做。其实，既使做不了伟大的事，只要我们带着伟大的爱心去做一些小事情，也会给别人带来莫大的感动。
The day was Thankful Thursday, our “designated day” of service. It’s a weekly tradition that my two little girls and I began years ago. Thursday has become our day to go out in the world and make a positive contribution. On this particular Thursday, we had no idea exactly what we were going to do, but we knew that something would present itself.
Driving along a busy Houston road, praying for guidance in our quest to fulfill our weekly Act of Kindness, the noon hour appropriately triggered1 hunger pangs in my two little ones. They wasted no time in letting me know, chanting, “McDonald’s, McDonald’s, McDonald’s” as we drove along. I relented and began searching earnestly for the nearest McDonald’s. Suddenly I realized that almost every intersection2 I passed through was occupied by a panhandler3. And then it hit me! If my two little ones were hungry, then all these panhandlers must be hungry, too. Perfect! Our Act of Kindness had presented itself. We were going to buy lunch for the panhandlers.
After finding a McDonald’s and ordering two Happy Meals for my girls, I ordered an additional 15 lunches and we set out to deliver them. It was exhilarating. We would pull alongside a panhandler, make a contribution, and tell him or her that we hoped things got better. Then we’d say, “Oh, by the way... here’s lunch.” And then we would vroom4 off to the next intersection.
It was the best way to give. There wasn’t enough time for us to introduce ourselves or explain what we were going to do, nor was there time for them to say anything back to us. The Act of Kindness was anonymous and empowering5 for each of us, and we loved what we saw in the rear view mirror: a surprised and delighted person holding up his lunch bag and just looking at us as we drove off. It was wonderful!
We had come to the end of our “route” and there was a small woman standing there, asking for change. We handed her our final contribution and lunch bag, and then immediately made a U-turn to head back in the opposite direction for home. Unfortunately, the light caught us again and we were stopped at the same intersection where this little woman stood. I was embarrassed and didn’t know quite how to behave. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to say or do anything.
She made her way to our car, so I put the window down just as she started to speak. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before,” she said with amazement. I replied, “Well, I’m glad that we were the first.” Feeling uneasy, and wanting to move the conversation along, I asked, “So, when do you think you’ll eat your lunch?”
She just looked at me with her huge, tired brown eyes and said, “Oh honey, I’m not going to eat this lunch.” I was confused, but before I could say anything, she continued. “You see, I have a little girl of my own at home and she just loves McDonald’s, but I can never buy it for her because I just don’t have the money. But you know what... tonight she is going to have McDonald’s!”
I don’t know if the kids noticed the tears in my eyes. So many times I had questioned whether our Acts of Kindness were too small or insignificant to really effect change. Yet in that moment, I recognized the truth of Mother Teresa’s words: “We cannot do great things—only small things with great love.”
这天是“感谢星期四”，是我和两个小女儿“指定”的每周服务社会的日子。这个传统早在几年前就开始了。星期四已成为我们走向社会、积极奉献的日子。在这个特殊的星期四，我们并不确切地知道我们要做什么，但我们知道自然会有某件事情发生。
我们开车沿着休斯顿的一条繁忙的公路一边行驶，一边祈祷着对我们寻求每周一次的善行的指引出现。到了中午，我的两个小女儿饿坏了。她们立刻就把这一信息传递给了我，在我开车前行的时候，冲着我大声喊道：“麦当劳，麦当劳，麦当劳。”我的心里升起一股爱怜之意，开始热切地寻找最近的麦当劳。突然，我意识到几乎我经过的每一个十字路口都有一个乞丐在行乞。然后，我突然想到了那个主意！如果我的两个小女儿都饿了，那么所有这些乞丐一定也饿了。太完美了！我们的善行已经自行出现了。我们要去为这些乞丐买午餐。
找到一家麦当劳并为我的女儿们点了两份“快乐午餐”之后，我又另外点了15份午餐，然后我们出发去分发它们。这真让人高兴啊。我们会把车开到一个乞丐身边，向他捐赠，告诉他或她说，我们希望一切会好起来。然后，我们会说：“噢，顺便说一下，您的午餐。”然后我们会加大油门，高速驶向下一个十字路口。
这是给予的最好方式。我们没有足够的时间作自我介绍或者解释我们要做什么，也没有时间听他们对我们说什么。这种善行是匿名的，是我们每一个人都有权利得到的，而且，我们喜欢我们从后视镜里看到的那一幕：当我们开车离开的时候，一个人又惊又喜地举着他的午餐袋，只是看着我们。这真是棒极了！
我们的“路线”快结束的时候，有一个身材瘦小的女人站在那儿讨钱。我们把最后一份捐赠和午餐袋递给她，然后立即来了一个U型大转弯，径直朝相反的方向——我们家开去。可惜的是，红灯又将我们拦住了，我们在那个瘦小的女人所在的十字路口停了下来。我觉得不好意思，不知道该怎么办。我不想让她觉得非得说什么或者做什么不可。
她向我们的汽车走来，于是当她开始说话的时候，我把车窗摇了下来。“以前从来没有人为我做这样的事，”她带着诧异的表情说。我回答：“唔，我很高兴我们是第一个。”因为感觉不自在，并且想让谈话继续下去，于是我就问道：“那么，你想什么时候吃午餐呢？”
她只是用她那双大而疲倦的褐色眼睛看着我说：“噢，亲爱的，我不打算吃这份午餐。”我很迷惑，但还没等我来得及问，她就继续说了下去。“你瞧，我自己有一个小女孩，她在家里，她就喜欢吃麦当劳，但我永远也不能买这个给她，因为我没有钱。但你知道吗……今天晚上，她能吃麦当劳了！”
我不知道孩子们是否注意到我眼睛里的眼泪。我曾那么多次问过自己，我们的善行是否太小了或者太微不足道了，产生不了什么真正有影响的改变。但在那一刻，我认可了特雷萨修女的话：“我们做不了伟大的事情——只有带着伟大的爱心做一些小事情。”
飞鸢摘译自Moved Moments in Life
The day was Thankful Thursday, our “designated day” of service. It’s a weekly tradition that my two little girls and I began years ago. Thursday has become our day to go out in the world and make a positive contribution. On this particular Thursday, we had no idea exactly what we were going to do, but we knew that something would present itself.
Driving along a busy Houston road, praying for guidance in our quest to fulfill our weekly Act of Kindness, the noon hour appropriately triggered1 hunger pangs in my two little ones. They wasted no time in letting me know, chanting, “McDonald’s, McDonald’s, McDonald’s” as we drove along. I relented and began searching earnestly for the nearest McDonald’s. Suddenly I realized that almost every intersection2 I passed through was occupied by a panhandler3. And then it hit me! If my two little ones were hungry, then all these panhandlers must be hungry, too. Perfect! Our Act of Kindness had presented itself. We were going to buy lunch for the panhandlers.
After finding a McDonald’s and ordering two Happy Meals for my girls, I ordered an additional 15 lunches and we set out to deliver them. It was exhilarating. We would pull alongside a panhandler, make a contribution, and tell him or her that we hoped things got better. Then we’d say, “Oh, by the way... here’s lunch.” And then we would vroom4 off to the next intersection.
It was the best way to give. There wasn’t enough time for us to introduce ourselves or explain what we were going to do, nor was there time for them to say anything back to us. The Act of Kindness was anonymous and empowering5 for each of us, and we loved what we saw in the rear view mirror: a surprised and delighted person holding up his lunch bag and just looking at us as we drove off. It was wonderful!
We had come to the end of our “route” and there was a small woman standing there, asking for change. We handed her our final contribution and lunch bag, and then immediately made a U-turn to head back in the opposite direction for home. Unfortunately, the light caught us again and we were stopped at the same intersection where this little woman stood. I was embarrassed and didn’t know quite how to behave. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to say or do anything.
She made her way to our car, so I put the window down just as she started to speak. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before,” she said with amazement. I replied, “Well, I’m glad that we were the first.” Feeling uneasy, and wanting to move the conversation along, I asked, “So, when do you think you’ll eat your lunch?”
She just looked at me with her huge, tired brown eyes and said, “Oh honey, I’m not going to eat this lunch.” I was confused, but before I could say anything, she continued. “You see, I have a little girl of my own at home and she just loves McDonald’s, but I can never buy it for her because I just don’t have the money. But you know what... tonight she is going to have McDonald’s!”
I don’t know if the kids noticed the tears in my eyes. So many times I had questioned whether our Acts of Kindness were too small or insignificant to really effect change. Yet in that moment, I recognized the truth of Mother Teresa’s words: “We cannot do great things—only small things with great love.”
这天是“感谢星期四”，是我和两个小女儿“指定”的每周服务社会的日子。这个传统早在几年前就开始了。星期四已成为我们走向社会、积极奉献的日子。在这个特殊的星期四，我们并不确切地知道我们要做什么，但我们知道自然会有某件事情发生。
我们开车沿着休斯顿的一条繁忙的公路一边行驶，一边祈祷着对我们寻求每周一次的善行的指引出现。到了中午，我的两个小女儿饿坏了。她们立刻就把这一信息传递给了我，在我开车前行的时候，冲着我大声喊道：“麦当劳，麦当劳，麦当劳。”我的心里升起一股爱怜之意，开始热切地寻找最近的麦当劳。突然，我意识到几乎我经过的每一个十字路口都有一个乞丐在行乞。然后，我突然想到了那个主意！如果我的两个小女儿都饿了，那么所有这些乞丐一定也饿了。太完美了！我们的善行已经自行出现了。我们要去为这些乞丐买午餐。
找到一家麦当劳并为我的女儿们点了两份“快乐午餐”之后，我又另外点了15份午餐，然后我们出发去分发它们。这真让人高兴啊。我们会把车开到一个乞丐身边，向他捐赠，告诉他或她说，我们希望一切会好起来。然后，我们会说：“噢，顺便说一下，您的午餐。”然后我们会加大油门，高速驶向下一个十字路口。
这是给予的最好方式。我们没有足够的时间作自我介绍或者解释我们要做什么，也没有时间听他们对我们说什么。这种善行是匿名的，是我们每一个人都有权利得到的，而且，我们喜欢我们从后视镜里看到的那一幕：当我们开车离开的时候，一个人又惊又喜地举着他的午餐袋，只是看着我们。这真是棒极了！
我们的“路线”快结束的时候，有一个身材瘦小的女人站在那儿讨钱。我们把最后一份捐赠和午餐袋递给她，然后立即来了一个U型大转弯，径直朝相反的方向——我们家开去。可惜的是，红灯又将我们拦住了，我们在那个瘦小的女人所在的十字路口停了下来。我觉得不好意思，不知道该怎么办。我不想让她觉得非得说什么或者做什么不可。
她向我们的汽车走来，于是当她开始说话的时候，我把车窗摇了下来。“以前从来没有人为我做这样的事，”她带着诧异的表情说。我回答：“唔，我很高兴我们是第一个。”因为感觉不自在，并且想让谈话继续下去，于是我就问道：“那么，你想什么时候吃午餐呢？”
她只是用她那双大而疲倦的褐色眼睛看着我说：“噢，亲爱的，我不打算吃这份午餐。”我很迷惑，但还没等我来得及问，她就继续说了下去。“你瞧，我自己有一个小女孩，她在家里，她就喜欢吃麦当劳，但我永远也不能买这个给她，因为我没有钱。但你知道吗……今天晚上，她能吃麦当劳了！”
我不知道孩子们是否注意到我眼睛里的眼泪。我曾那么多次问过自己，我们的善行是否太小了或者太微不足道了，产生不了什么真正有影响的改变。但在那一刻，我认可了特雷萨修女的话：“我们做不了伟大的事情——只有带着伟大的爱心做一些小事情。”
飞鸢摘译自Moved Moments in Life