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When courage triumphed over fear 1 I know what courage looks like. I saw it on a flight I took six years ago and only now can I speak of it without tears filling my eyes at the memory. 2 When our plane left New York that Friday morning we were a talkative high-energy group. The early-morning transcontinental flight hosted mainly professional people going to San Francisco for a day or two of business. As I looked around I saw lots of designer suites CEO-level expensive haircuts designer briefcases and all the trimmings of lofty business travelers. I settled back with my paperback novel for some light reading and the brief flight ahead. 3 Immediately upon take-off long before we had reached our cruising altitude it was clear that something was wrong. The aircraft was bumping vertically up and down and tilting left to right. All the experienced travelers including me looked around with knowing grins. We had experienced minor problems and turbulence on prior flights. If you fly very much you see these things and learn to act relaxed about them. 4 It wasn't long before our relaxed attitudes began to evaporate. Minutes after we were in flight our plane began dipping wildly and one wing plunged downward. The plane climbed higher but that didn't help our plight. The pilot soon provided some grave news regarding the flight. 5 "We are having some difficulties" he said. "At this time it appears we have no nose-wheel steering. Our indicators show that our landing system has failed which necessitates that we abort the flight and return to New York. Because of the problems with the mechanism o if you look out the windows you will see that we are dumping fuel from the airplane. We want to have as little on board as possible in the event of a rough touchdown." 6 In other words we were about to crash. No sight has ever been so sobering as that fuel hundreds of gallons of it streaming past my window out of the plane's tanks. The flight attendants scrambled to get people into position and comforted those who were instantaneously hysterical. 7 As I looked at the faces of my fellow business travelers I was stunned by the changes I saw. Many looked visibly frightened now. Even the most sophisticated looked vulnerable and grim. Their faces actually looked panicked. There wasn't a single exception and I realized that no one faces death without fear; no one is immune to its terror. 8 Then somewhere in my proximity I overheard a still calm voice underlying the panic. It was a woman's voice speaking in an absolutely normal conversational tone. Despite the circumstance there was no angry emotion or tension and this calm voice evoked a calm in me that quieted some of my initial fears. It became imperative that I find her. 9 All around the cabin people cried. Many moaned and screamed. A few of the men maintained their appearance of calm by bracing against their armrests and grinding their teeth but their fear was written all over them. 10 Try as I might I could not have spoken so calmly so sweetly at that moment as the fabulous voice I heard. Finally I saw her. 11 In the midst of all the chaos a mother was talking just talking to her child. The woman in her mid-30's and unremarkable looking in any other way was staring full into the face of her daughter who looked about four years old. The child listened closely sensing that her mother's words were invaluable. The mother's gaze held the child so fixed and intent that the child seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear all around her. 12 I strained to hear what this mother was telling her child. I relished the sound of calm confidence amongst the terror. Finally I hovered nearby and by some miracle could hear her soft sure confident voice say in a calming tone over and over again "I love you so much. Do you know for sure that I love you more than anything?" 13 "Yes Mommy" the little girl said. 14 "And remember no matter what happens that I love you always; and that you are a good girl. Sometimes things happen that are not your fault. You are my beloved good girl and my love will always be with you." 15 As her first concern was for her daughter's well-being the mother then put her body over her daughter's strapping the seat belt over both of them to save her daughter from a possible wreckage. 16 Then for no earthly reason our landing gear held and we glided to a gentle stop. It was all over in seconds. Our touchdown was smooth and easy; the tragedy we had feared was not our destiny. 17 The voice I heard that day never hesitated never acknowledged dread and maintained an evenness that seemed emotionally and physically impossible. During that descent not one of the hardened business people could have spoken without a hint of fear in their voice. Only the greatest courage with a foundation of even greater love had brought that mother up and lifted her above the chaos around her. 18 That mom showed me the amazing power of love. And for those few minutes I heard the voice of true courage. 当勇气战胜恐惧 我知道勇气是什么样子。我六年前在乘坐的一架航班上就见识了。只到现在，凭记忆述说这件事的时候，我才不致热泪盈眶。 那是星期五的早上，当我们的飞机从纽约起飞时，我们这帮人还高谈阔论、劲头十足。这趟横贯大陆的清晨航班主要搭载了一些前往旧金山出差一两天的职业人士。我向四周打量一下，看到的多是名贵西装、经理人式的考究发型、名牌公文包以及气宇轩昂的商务旅行者们的各种装束。我身子往后一靠，拿出一本简装小说准备轻松阅读一下，度过时下这短暂的飞行。 飞机刚一起飞，远未达到巡航高度时，我们就明显感到有什么不对劲。飞机直上直下颠簸、忽左忽右倾斜。我们这些有出门经验的人都四下环顾着，会心地笑了笑。在以前的飞行中，我们都经历过一些小问题和气流颠簸。如果你飞机坐多了，这类事情见多了，你也就学会泰然处之了。 没过多久我们放松的心情就开始消失了。飞行才几分钟，飞机就失控下坠，而且一只机翼向下倾斜。尽管飞机爬高了些，但于事无补。飞行员很快通报了这次飞行的严重事态。 “我们现在遇到了一些麻烦，”他说。“目前看来前轮转向装置无法运转；指示器显示，我们的着陆系统失灵了。我们必须放弃飞行，返回纽约。由于机械装置出现了问题，我们的起落架可能无法锁住，因此乘务人员将帮助大家做好准备，预防着陆时的颠簸。还有，如果大家看一下窗外，就会看见我们正在倾倒飞机上的燃油。我们想尽量减轻飞机的负荷，以应对飞机硬着陆。” 也就是说，我们要坠机了。从飞机油箱里倒出的成百上千加仑的汽油就从舷窗外飞流直下，没有什么比这种景象更能让人感到事态的严重。乘务人员急于让大家各归其位，还尽力安抚那些顷刻之间歇斯底里的乘客。 我看了看这些出门公干的旅伴们，惊讶地发现他们已经神色大变。此时许多人显然吓坏了。甚至那些饱经世故的人们也显得神经脆弱、神情严肃。他们其实已经慌神了。无一例外！由此，我意识到面对死神谁都害怕——无人能免俗。 就在此时，在我附近某个地方，我听到一个淹没在恐慌之中的依旧从容的声音。这是一位女性的声音，说话语调完全就像普通聊天一样正常。尽管形势危急，这个平静的声音既没有愤怒之情也没有紧张，唤醒了我内心的镇静，抚平了我最初的恐惧。我急需找到她。 整个机舱都是人们的哭喊声。许多人呻吟着、尖叫着。几个男人死死撑住座位扶手，咬紧牙关，竭力保持镇静，但是浑身上下都透出惶恐。 尽管我竭尽全力，但此刻我怎么也不可能像我听到的那个美妙的声音那样，讲话如此镇定、如此动听。终于，我看到了她。 混乱之中，一位母亲正在讲话，她就只对着自己的孩子讲。这名妇女35岁左右，无论怎么看都相貌平平。她正目不转睛地盯着女儿的脸，女儿看起来大约四岁。孩子仔细聆听，意识到母亲的话语的分量。母亲凝视的目光让孩子听得聚精会神，似乎一点也不为周围人们哀伤和惊恐的声音所动。 我竭力想听清这位母亲在跟孩子讲些什么。我喜欢这恐惧中的淡定之声。最后，我凑得近了些。幸运的是，我听清了这温柔、沉着而自信的声音。她用平静的语调一遍遍地说：“我十分爱你。你相信我爱你胜过一切么？” “是的，妈咪，”小姑娘答道。 “不管发生什么事情，都要记住我永远爱你，你是个好孩子。有些事情的发生并不是你的错。你是我的乖女儿，我的爱将永远伴随着你。” 母亲首先心系女儿的安危，她俯身挡在女儿身上，用安全带系住她们俩人，以免女儿被可能的失事残片所伤。 而后，天知道什么原因，我们的起落架居然锁住了，飞机滑行，平稳停下。几秒钟后一切都过去了。我们着地顺利、轻松；我们所恐惧的悲剧并没有成为我们的宿运。 那天我听到的那个声音没有丝毫的动摇，没有流露出半点惧怕，保持了一份平和。那份平和无论从感情上还是从生理上来讲都令人难以置信。在飞机下坠的过程中，见惯世事的商人们当时说话声中无不流露出恐惧。只有最伟大的勇气，以更伟大的爱为根基，才支撑起这位母亲，使她超然于周围的混乱之上。 那位母亲给我展现了爱的惊人力量。在那短短几分钟里，我听到了真正勇气的声音。 |
