2006年NPR美国国家公共电台十月-A Daily Walk Just to Listen

I believe in honor, faith and service.
I believe that a little outrage¹ can take you a long way.
I believe in freedom of speech.
I believe in empathy.
I believe in truth.
I believe in the ingredients of love.
This I believe.

Mondays are when we bring you our series THIS I BELIEVE. This week's essay was sent to us by Susan Cosio, a hospital chaplain from Davis, California. Here is our series curator, independent producer, Jay Allison.

As a chaplain, and a wife and mother, Susan Cosio is called upon to listen attentively² in her life and work. The key for her is how to listen, where to focus her attention. She has a prescription³ for turning down the volume enough so that she can hear what's important. Susan Cosio now with her essay for THIS I BELIEVE.

Sometimes I feel like I have no real sense of direction. At 45, this is a little scary. I think my distraction⁴ is due to the variety of roles I play and my tendency to try to please others. Much of my day is spent responding to requests: "Mommy, will you..." "Susan, can you..." My world is full of spoken and unspoken expectations that I try to live up to, as a parent, as a person, as a friend.

I believe I have to remove myself from the voices that barrage⁵ me in order to find my true compass. This includes a daily walk just to listen. The guiding light of my life is the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. In our hectic⁶, noisy world, I have to slow down or withdraw in order to hear it. Prayer, I have discovered, is less about what I say and more about what I hear.

Time set apart with God is like a hike to a peak from the middle of a dense⁷ forest; it gives me perspective and some ability to see where I've been and where I am going.

Discerning God's voice is not so hard when I make time to listen closely. Sometimes I hear it as a sudden insight when I step back from a situation. Other times, it's a deep sense of my priorities or a conviction about something I should do or say. I often take a walk with a pencil and notepad in my pocket, and return with notes for a speech or piece of writing. Later, when someone tells me she was moved by the words I'd scribble⁸d on that paper, I know my prompting came from God.

My pursuit of spiritual truth is not about religion as much as it is about relationship. It is not about intellectualizing God's commands, but about internalizing his truth within my heart as well as my head -- an understanding so deep and intimate that it affects not only my thinking, but my behavior as well. On my daily walks, I've recognized how to parent my children through difficult situations, been prompted to call a friend I hadn't heard from in a while, and felt compelled to reach out to strangers who soon became my friends.

I believe in a daily walk to listen because that is when I am close to God; that is when I find my way. I am most at peace when I tune¹⁰ out the voices of the world long enough to hear the still, small voice of God directing me. "Be still," Psalm¹¹ 46 reminds me, "and know that I am God."

Susan Cosio with her essay for "This I Believe." If you are moved to write about the belief that grounds your life as Cosio did, visit our website: NPR.org for more details on submitting to our series or call toll-free 888-577-9977 for "This I Believe", I'm Jay Allison.

Next Monday on morning edition, on This I Believe essay from San Francisco newspaper columnist¹² John Carrel. He believes in failure. Support for This I Believe comes from Capella University.

New Words and Expressions

barrage v.以密集的火力进攻
the Holy Spirit 圣灵
discern v.目睹, 认识, 洞悉, 辨别, 看清楚
conviction n.深信, 确信, 定罪, 宣告有罪
scribble v.潦草地写, 乱写, 滥写

1 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

2 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

4 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

5 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

6 hectic   

adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的

参考例句：

• I spent a very hectic Sunday.我度过了一个忙乱的星期天。
• The two days we spent there were enjoyable but hectic.我们在那里度过的两天愉快但闹哄哄的。

7 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

8 scribble   

v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文

参考例句：

• She can't write yet,but she loves to scribble with a pencil.她现在还不会写字，但她喜欢用铅笔乱涂。
• I can't read this scribble.我看不懂这种潦草的字。

9 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

10 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

11 psalm   

n.赞美诗，圣诗

参考例句：

• The clergyman began droning the psalm.牧师开始以单调而低沈的语调吟诵赞美诗。
• The minister droned out the psalm.牧师喃喃地念赞美诗。

12 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。