為什麼我們可以愛上任何人：英語精讀講義

Irrespective of whether you consider Jesus a popular itinerant preacher or the Son of God, 講解

不論你把耶穌視為一位受歡迎的雲遊傳教士，還是上帝的兒子，

there's a very odd thing about his views on love.

他對於愛的觀點都非常奇特。

He not only spoke a great deal about love, 文法

他不僅長篇大論地談論愛，

he went on to advocate that we should love some highly surprising people. 片語動詞

甚至還主張我們應該去愛一些極其出人意表的人。

At one point, described in chapter seven of Luke's gospel,

有一次，在《路加福音》第七章中寫道，

Jesus goes to a dinner party and a local prostitute turns up, 片語動詞

耶穌去參加一個晚宴，一個當地的妓女出現了，

much to the disgust of his hosts. 片語搭配

這讓主人感到非常厭惡。

But Jesus is friendly and sweet and defends her against everyone else's criticism.

但耶穌卻對她友善溫柔，並在眾人指責她時為她辯護。

In a way that shocks the other guests,

他的做法讓其他客人都感到震驚，

he insists that at heart she is a very good person. 慣用語

他堅持認為她的本質是個非常好的人。

There's another story in Matthew chapter 8 where Jesus is approached by a man with leprosy.

在《馬太福音》第八章中還有另一個故事，一個痲瘋病人走近耶穌。

He is in a disgusting state,

他身上令人作嘔，

but Jesus isn't shocked,

但耶穌並沒有感到震驚，

reaches out his hand and touches the man. 片語搭配

而是伸出手摸了摸那個人。

Despite the horrendous appearance,

儘管外表可怕，

here is someone in Jesus's eyes entirely deserving of closeness and kindness. 慣用語

在耶穌眼裡，這卻是一個完全值得親近和善待的人。

In a similar vein at other times, 慣用語

同樣地，在其他時候，

Jesus conspicuously argues that tax collectors, thieves, and adulterers

耶穌還引人注目地主張，稅吏、小偷和通姦者

are never to be thought of as outside the circle of love. 片語動詞

絕不應該被排除在愛的圈子之外。

Many centuries after his death,

在他死後幾個世紀，

the foremost medieval thinker Thomas Aquinas defined what Jesus was getting at 片語動詞

最重要的中世紀思想家托馬斯·阿奎那對耶穌的意圖做出了定義，

in this way of talking about love. He wrote, "The person who truly understands love

用這樣談論愛的方式。他寫道：「真正懂得愛的人

could love anyone."

可以愛上任何人。」

In other words, true love isn't specific in its target. 表達脈絡

換句話說，真愛的目標並不具有針對性。

It doesn't fixate on particular qualities. 片語搭配

它不執著於特定的品質。

It's open to all of humanity,

它向全人類敞開，

even and in a way especially its less appealing examples. 表達脈絡

甚至，或者說尤其向那些不那麼討喜的人敞開。

Today, this can sound like a deeply strange notion of what love is.

在今天，這聽起來可能是對愛的一種極為奇怪的理解。

For our background ideas about love tend to be closely tied to a dramatic experience, 片語搭配

因為我們對愛的潛在認知，往往與一種戲劇性的體驗緊密相連，

that of falling in love.

那就是墜入愛河。

That is, finding one very specific person immensely attractive,

也就是說，發現某一個特定的人極具吸引力、

exciting, and free of any failings or drawbacks.

令人興奮，且沒有任何缺點或不足。

Love is, we feel,

我們覺得，愛

a response to an overt perfection of another person.

是對另一個明顯完美的反應。

Yet, via some admittedly extreme examples,

然而，透過一些不可否認的極端例子，

a very important aspect of love is being pushed to the fore in Jesus's vision. 慣用語

愛的一個非常重要的層面在耶穌的願景中被推到了台前。

And we don't have to be Christian, 文法

我們不必是基督徒，

that is, we don't have to believe there's an afterlife

也就是說，我們不必相信有來世，

or that Jesus was born to a virgin

也不必相信耶穌是童貞女所生，

to benefit from it.

就能從中受益。

At the heart of this kind of love is an effort to see beyond 慣用語

這種愛的核心，是努力看透

the outwardly unappealing surface of another human

另一個人表面上不吸引人的外表，

in search of the tender, interesting,

去尋找內在那個溫柔、有趣、

scared, and vulnerable person inside.

恐懼且脆弱的人。

What we know as the work of love 文法

我們所知道的『愛的工作』，

is the emotional, imaginative labor that's required to peer behind an off-putting facade. 慣用語

就是看穿令人反感的表象所需的情感和想像力的勞動。

Our minds tend fiercely to resist such a move.

我們的頭腦往往會強烈抵制這種做法。

They follow well-worn grooves that feel familiar and justified. 慣用語

它們會順著熟悉的、看似理所當然的固定軌跡思考。

For instance, if someone's hurt us,

比如，如果有人傷害了我們，

we naturally see them as horrible. 文法

我們自然會覺得他們很可怕。

The thought they might themselves be hurting inside feels weird. 文法

一想到他們內心可能也很痛苦，就會覺得很怪異。

If a person looks odd,

如果一個人看起來很古怪，

we find it extremely difficult to recognize

我們就很難意識到，

there might well be many touching things about them deep down. 文法

他們內心深處可能也有許多令人感動的地方。

If unpleasant events happen in someone's life,

如果某人的生活中發生了不幸的事，

if they keep losing their job or acquire a habit of drinking too much

如果他們總是失業，或者養成了酗酒的習慣，

or even develop cancer,

甚至患上了癌症，

we're somehow tempted to hold them responsible for their misfortunes. 片語搭配

我們有時會忍不住認為這都是他們咎由自取。

It takes a deliberate, taxing effort of the mind 文法

這需要我們刻意地、費力地運用心智，

to move ourselves off these deeply established responses.

才能擺脫這些根深蒂固的反應。

To do so might mean taking an unappealing-looking person

這麼做可能意味著，面對一個外表不討喜的人，

and trying to imagine them, say, as a young child, 文法

試著想像他們，比如說，作為一個小孩子，

unselfconsciously playing on their bedroom floor.

在臥室地板上無憂無慮地玩耍的樣子。

We might try to picture their mother,

我們可以試著想像他們的母親，

not long after their birth,

在他們剛出生不久時，

holding them in her arms,

把他們抱在懷裡，

overcome by a passionate love for this new little life. 片語搭配

被對這個小生命的熱愛所淹沒。

Or, perhaps, drunk and passed out, 片語動詞

或者，也許母親喝醉了且不省人事，

ignoring their desperate cries.

完全無視他們絕望的哭喊。

We might see a furious person in a restaurant violently complaining

我們可能在餐廳裡看到一個暴怒的人，正在激烈地抱怨

that the tomato sauce is on the wrong side of their plate.

盤子裡的番茄醬放錯了位置。

But rather than condemn and feel superior, 文法

但與其譴責並感到高人一等，

we might try to construct a story 片語搭配

我們不如試著去構思一個故事，

of how this individual had come to be so impossible

想像這個人是怎麼變得如此不可理喻的，

and how powerless things feel in a world where something,

以及在這個世界上，當某種東西——

and obviously not what they're ostensibly complaining about,

顯然不是他們表面上抱怨的東西——

has frustrated them to the core. 慣用語

讓他們深感挫敗時，那種無力感是怎樣的。

The more energy we expend in thinking like this, 文法

我們在這種思考上投入的精力越多，

the more we stand to discover a very surprising truth, 片語搭配

就越有可能發現一個非常令人驚訝的真相：

that we could potentially see the lovable sides of pretty much anyone.

我們可能看到了幾乎任何人可愛的一面。

That doesn't mean we should give up on all criteria 講解

這並不意味著我們在尋找伴侶時

when searching for a partner.

應該放棄所有的標準。

It's a way of saying that the nicest person

它是說，即使是最好的人，

will eventually require us to look at them

最終也需要我們用想像力

with imagination

去看待他們，

as we try to negotiate around some of their gravely dispiriting sides. 用詞

因為我們需要試著去包容他們某些令人極其沮喪的一面。

And of course,

當然，

the traffic won't ever be all just one way. 慣用語

這絕不是單向的付出。

We too are deeply challenging to be around 片語搭配

和我們相處也極具挑戰性，

and therefore stand in need of a constantly imaginative, 片語搭配

因此，我們也需要一種不斷充滿想像力、

tender gaze to rescue us

溫柔的目光來拯救我們，

from being dismissed as merely another everyday monster or leper. 用詞

避免被當作另一個普通的怪物或痲瘋病人而不予理睬。