I had an old neighbor when I was growing up named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. Every time I saw him, he was wearing denim1 overalls2 and a straw hat, the front brim3 of which was green sunglass plastic. He smiled a lot, a smile that matched his hat—old and well-worn hat. He never yelled at4 us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than circumstances5 warranted 6.
When Doctor Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life-goal was to make it a forest. The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning7 plant husbandry8. He came from the “No pain, no gain” school of horticulture9. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom10. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you water them, each successive11 tree generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out12 the weenie13 trees early on.
He talked about how watering trees made for shallow14 roots, and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture15. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.
So he never watered his trees. He'd plant an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he'd beat it with a rolled up16 newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow17! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.
Doctor Gibbs died a couple years after I left home. Every now and again, I walk by his house and look at the trees that I'd watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They're granite18 strong now—big and robust19. Those trees wake up in the morning and beat their chests and drink their coffee black20.
I planted a couple trees a few years back. Carried water to them for a solid 21 summer. Sprayed22 them. Prayed over them. The whole nine yards. Two years of coddling23 has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows in, they tremble and chatter24 their branches. Sissy25 trees.
Funny thing about those trees of Doctor Gibbs. Adversity26 and deprivation27 seemed to benefit them in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed, I go to check on my two sons. I stand over28 them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy, “Lord, spare29 them from hardship.” But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer.
It has something to do with the inevitability30 of cold winds that hit us at the core31. I know my children are going to encounter hardship, and my praying they won't is naive32. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere.
So I'm changing my prayer. Because life is tough, whether we want it to be or not. Instead, I'm going to pray that my sons' roots grow deep, so they can draw strength from the hidden sources of the eternal 33 God.
Too many times we pray for ease, but that's a prayer seldom met. What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the Eternal, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be swept asunder34.
小时候，我有一个老邻居叫吉布斯医生。他和我认识的医生都不太一样。每次看到他，他总穿着斜纹的棉质工装裤，戴一顶草帽，帽舌为一幅绿色塑料太阳镜。他脸上总是挂着微笑，这笑容和他那顶破旧的饱经沧桑的帽子倒是相得益彰。我们在他院里玩耍，他从不对我们大喊大叫。记忆中，他是一个非常和蔼的人，这在那个时候是非常难能可贵的。
吉布斯医生不治病的时候就去植树。他的住所占地10英亩，他一生的梦想就是把它变成一片茂密的森林。对于植树，这个老好医生的一些观点颇为有趣。他属于“没有耕耘，就没有收获”那种园艺学派。他从不给新树浇水，这显然与常理背道而驰。我曾经问过他为什么这么做，他说：“浇水只会娇惯它们，如果浇水，树的后代会变得越来越弱不禁风。因此，你得让它们吃点苦头，并尽早淘汰那些弱小的树。”
他告诉我，给树浇水会使树根扎得很浅；而那些没浇水的树必须把根深深扎入地下，获取水分。他的话我是这样理解的：只有深根才值得珍惜。
因此他从不给他的树浇水。他种了一棵橡树，不但每天早上不浇水，而且还要用一张卷起的报纸拍打它，啪！噼！砰！我问他为什么这么做，他回答说是为了引起树的注意。
我离家没几年，吉布斯医生就去世了。有时路过他的房子，都要看看25年前目睹他种下的那些树。如今它们已是坚如磐石——又高又壮了。这些树清晨苏醒，击打着自己的胸脯，顽强地生长。
几年前我也种了两三棵树。整个夏季都为它们浇水、喷药，为它们祈祷。整整9码大的地方。两年的精心呵护倒养成了从头到脚要人伺候的坏毛病。每当寒风吹起，它们便颤栗不已，树枝之间抖得卡嗒卡嗒响。真是娇里娇气的两棵树。
还是吉布斯医生的树有趣儿。它们似乎从逆境和苦难中大受裨益，而这正是舒适和安逸所无法赋予的。
每天晚上睡觉前，我都要去看看我的两个儿子。我注视着他们小小的躯体，生命的律动就在其中一起一伏。我常为他们祈祷。大多数时间我祈求他们生活安逸。“主啊，让他们免受磨难吧。”然而近来我却一直在思索：我的祈祷该变一变了。
我们终究是要接受寒风的洗礼。我知道我的孩子有朝一日会遭受挫折，而我一厢情愿的祈祷实在太天真了。人生的冬天总会有寒风。
所以，我改变了自己的祈祷词。不管我们愿意与否，生活总是艰苦的。我倒想祈求儿子的根能够扎得更深些，从永恒的上帝那儿获取潜在的能量。
太多的时候，我们祈求安逸，而这种祈求却少有实现。我们只需祈求树根深深地钻入大地，这样，风雨肆虐的时候，我们才不会被打倒。
1. denim n． 粗斜纹棉布
2． overall n． [pl．] 工装裤
3． brim [brim] n． 帽边，帽沿
4． yell [jel] at 对……吼叫
5． circumstance n． 环境，详情， 境况
6． warrant v． 保证
7． concerning prep． 关于
8． husbandry n． 耕种，饲养
9． horticulture n． 园艺；园艺学
10． fly in the face of 公然违抗
conventional adj． 惯例的，常规的
11． successive adj． 接连的；相继的
12． weed out 清除， 淘汰
13． weenie adj． 微小的，细小的
14． shallow adj． 浅的，浅薄的
15． moisture n． 湿气，水分
16． roll up 卷起
17． smack v． 用掌击，拍打 slap v． 掌击， 拍击 pow [pau] int． 啪！（象声词）
18． granite n． 花岗岩
19． robust adj． 强[健]壮的
20． “to beat one＇s chest” 意指某人很强壮； “black coffee” 非常苦，喝此类咖啡的人通常被认为能吃苦耐劳，此处喻指“这些树在恶劣的环境下生存了下来”。
21． solid adj． 不间断的， 连续的
22． spray [sprei] v． 喷，向……喷射
23． coddle v． 娇养，溺爱
24． chatter v． 打颤，卡搭作响
25． sissy adj． 女人气的，柔弱的
26． adversity n． 不幸，灾祸
27． deprivation n． 剥夺，丧失
28． stand over 密切注意，监督
29． spare v． 免遭，免去
30． inevitability n． 必然性 have something to do with 与……有点关系
31． core n． 中心，核心
32． naive adj． 幼稚的，天真的
33． eternal adj． 永恒的，永远的
34． asunder adv． 分离，成碎片
sweep v． 风吹，浪冲等