笪景行

What is a miracle？

A supernatural event？ Something rare？ Magic， or deception1？

Yes， it can be any of these things， but I wonder how many people would say that a miracle can be something ordinary？ Or， at least， something that seems ordinary.

Miracles happen every day around us， and we just dont see it.

Most people would call walking on water a miracle， but how about walking on earth？ How special that is！Yes， most people can walk on the ground， but that doesnt make it less of a miracle.

Think about it. Think of all of the things in the universe that had to come together so that you can take a single step. From the beginning， conditions on Earth had to be just right for life to blossom—everything from the temperature to the water and oxygen levels. Thats why life has been so hard to find anywhere else. And even when it wasnt perfect， like when a volcano2 erupted3， or a meteor4 struck， every one of your ancestors5 survived so that you are alive today.

Thats not all. If you want to take a shorter view on it， the fact that youre healthy and alive right now， and able to enjoy this beautiful day is a miracle in itself！Be grateful for every moment you can feel the breeze through your clothes， or the rain on your face. Be grateful for every morning the sun rises and every evening you made it to the end of the day alive...because， sadly， a lot of people didnt.

In our modern lives， we cant expect too many miracles. But if we look carefully， they are all around us. The miracle is not to walk on the water， or on clouds or fire， but it is to walk on earth.

什么是奇跡？

是超自然的事件嗎？是一些稀罕事兒?jiǎn)?？還是魔法或者幻象？

是的，奇跡可以是這些東西里的任何一個(gè)，但我想知道，有多少人會(huì)說(shuō)奇跡是普通的東西？或者，至少，是看起來(lái)很普通的東西。

奇跡每天都在我們身邊發(fā)生，只是我們察覺(jué)不到。

大多數(shù)人都認(rèn)為在水上行走是一個(gè)奇跡，那么在地上行走呢？那是多么的特別！是的，大多數(shù)人可以在地上行走，但這并不說(shuō)明它不是一個(gè)奇跡。

想想看。想想宇宙中所有必須的東西聚集在一起，這樣你就可以走出一步了。從一開(kāi)始，地球上的條件就必須是適合生命生長(zhǎng)的，無(wú)論是溫度，水，還是氧氣的含量。這就是為什么在其他地方很難找到生命存在的原因。即使條件并不是完美的，比如會(huì)有火山噴發(fā)或流星撞擊的時(shí)候，但是你的每一個(gè)祖先都幸存了下來(lái)，于是今天才有你的存在。

那還不是全部。如果從眼前來(lái)看，你現(xiàn)在是健康的，活著的，并且能夠享受這美好的一天，這本身就是一個(gè)奇跡！應(yīng)為每一刻你都能感覺(jué)到微風(fēng)吹過(guò)你的衣服，或是雨水拂過(guò)你的臉心存感激。感激每天早晨太陽(yáng)升起，每天晚上你都能活著結(jié)束……因?yàn)椋恍业氖?，很多人沒(méi)能如此。

在我們的現(xiàn)代生活中，我們期待再怎么多的奇跡也不為過(guò)。但是如果我們仔細(xì)觀察，它們就在我們周?chē)?。奇跡不是在水面上行走，或在云中、火上行走，而是腳踏實(shí)地地行走。

Notes：

1. deception n. 幻象，幻覺(jué)，幻影

2. volcano n. 火山

3. erupt vi. 爆發(fā)；噴出

4. meteor n. 流星

5. ancestor n. 始祖，祖先