“今天,我有一个梦想。
我梦想有一天,幽谷上升,高山下降;坎坷曲折之路成坦途,圣光披露,满照人间。
......
当我们让自由之声响起,让自由之声从每一个大小村庄、每一个州和每一个城市响起来时,我们将能够加速这一天的到来,那时,上帝的所有儿女,黑人和白人,犹太教徒和非犹太教徒,耶稣教徒和天主教徒,都将手携手,合唱一首古老的黑人灵歌: 自由啦!自由啦!感谢全能上帝,我们终于自由啦! ”
——《我有一个梦想》
上周三(4月4日)是马丁·路德·金(Martin Luther King)遇害日。50年前的那天,他作为一名浸信会牧师,也是民权运动领袖之一,正挑战美国对黑人的种族压迫。他是一个激情四溢、出口成章的出色演说家,他的勇气和智慧帮助人们抵抗体制性残酷的歧视。他自始至终传达的信息是爱,而不是恨,这正是他要宣传的自己对于在对抗与挑战中使用非暴力手段的理解。他不幸于1968年4月4日在在田纳西州孟菲斯市被詹姆斯·厄尔·雷伊(James Earl Ray)刺杀。
《我有一个梦想》(I have a dream)是马丁·路德·金于1963年8月28日在华盛顿林肯纪念堂发表的著名演讲,内容主要关于黑人民族平等。对美国甚至世界影响很大,并且被我国编入中学教程。其实,不仅仅只有这个演讲,作为杰出的演讲家,马丁·路德·金的留下许多名言警句。尤其是他在带领和推动艰难的黑人平权事业中,他的基督信仰对其的激励发挥了重要的作用。而在这样数年的艰难平权运动中,他对于基督信仰的默想沉淀了许多深入的默想,同时对于个人的人生、人类的发展都也留下了很多深刻的认识。
以下是马丁·路德·金的12句名言,以供读者悦享。
1.我曾决定毕生致力于爱。恨是不可承受之重。
I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
2.不要让他人拉低你的人格到仇恨他的地步。
Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.
3.也许在人生在某个时间段,在许多情况下难免会发生一些不愉快:有人会很讨厌你,有人会狠心虐待你,有人会诽谤你,有人到处散布谣言,而此时正是你反击和战胜那人好机会:你也许可以通过推荐工作岗位来帮助他,也可以帮助他在生活中做些改变。这正是你以德报怨和有所作为的好时机,这就是爱的意义。
There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love.
4. 今晚我想告诉你们的是,仅仅谈论爱是不够的,爱是基督信仰的核心之一。还有一点叫做公义。公义实际上是用爱来衡量计算,公义是把违反了爱的那些纠正过来的爱。
I want to tell you this evening that it is not enough for us to talk about love, love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.
5.人类的进步从来不会从天而降地自然产生,朝着公义的目标迈进的每一步无不是由每个有奉献精神和豪情壮志的个体以流血牺牲、蒙受苦难和奋力搏斗中争取来的。
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
6. 自由从来就不会来自压迫者的施舍,只能由被压迫者主动争取。
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
7.胆怯的人会问安全吗?自私的人会问关乎政治吗?虚荣的人会问流行吗?有良心的会问是否恰当?随着时间推移,总要有一个人必须采取既不安全,又不属政治,而且还不受欢迎的立场,正因为它是正确的,总要有人必须得接受它。
Cowardice asks the question – is it safe? Expediency asks the question – is it politic? Vanity asks the question – is it popular? But conscience asks the question – is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.
8.任何一个宗教只要是宣称只关心人的灵魂,而从不关注贫民窟且在经济上压制他们、在社会状况上削弱他们,这就是一种在精神上的垂死挣扎、该死的、等待埋葬的宗教。
Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.
9.我与任何人无异,谁不希望长命百岁?可长寿自有命定,对此我现在一无挂虑,我只想遵行神的旨意去做。(这是他最后一次布道,也是他被害前一天晚上)
Like anybody, I would like to have a long life. Longevity has its place. But I m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God s will . [In his last sermon, the night before he was killed.]
10.当我拿起十字架时,我认识到它的意义所在。十字架就是你要承受的东西,最终你也会为它而死。
When I took up the cross I recognised its meaning. The cross is something that you bear, and ultimately, that you die on.
11.上帝能赐予你力量去忍受克服无法改变的事物…为什么还焦虑?不论发生什么事情,上帝无所不能。
God is able to give you the power to endure that which cannot be changed... Why be anxious? Come what may, God is able.
12.十字架可能意味着你的名望消失,通往白宫的仕途受阻,基金会的资助财路已断,这只不过让你把先前预算减少一点而无伤大雅,但当务之急就是扛起你的十字架,背起它!
The cross may mean the death of your popularity. It may mean the death of your bridge to the White House. It may mean the death of a foundation grant. It may cut your budget down a little, but take up your cross and just bear it.
翻译:May
编辑:Ruth