在对的人手里(In the right hands)

I've been working in my backyard the last few weeks. It's part of a “keep-myself-busy” plan. I am self-employed. Well, I have lost my job. So, the yard needs attention. While cleaning up a corner of the yard, I found a tiny bottle. It's about two inches high and a half inch thick. It looks like it has a cork in the top, but I think perhaps it was a glass stopper, like one in a perfume bottle.

Then, my mind begins to play with all kinds of possibilities. I wonder who it belonged to and where it came from. Was it a gift from a young man to his sweetheart? I show it to my neighbour and challenge him with the idea.

“It's junk! Look! There's a piece broken on the top. I threw it out,” he concludes.

But it's not junk to me. It's still useful. I like seeing it as a gift. Not only the imagined one from a guy to his girl, but the gift I am given just because I have found it. It can still hold something. I'll find a small cork and add a little colored water to it.

When I hold it, I imagine the hand that has thrown it away. Junk? The slight damage doesn't mean it has lost its function. It is just like me: I've been damaged, broken, but I am still useful. God picked me up out of the trash pile, dusted me off and found something new I could do. Perhaps writing was the thing I was meant to do all along. Maybe, just maybe, I needed to be broken and thrown away in order to fulfill His plans for me.

So, next time when you pass by a lost soul, beaten down and seen as junk by others, remember that he or she is God's vessel. In the right hands, even a broken bottle is a treasure.

【助读词汇】

-cork n. 软木塞

-stopper n. 塞子

-perfume n. 香水，香料

-embodiment n. 具体化，体现，化身

【参考译文】

过去几周我都在后院里忙活。这是我“让自己忙起来”计划的一部分。我是自己的老板。呃，其实，我是失业了。因此，院子就显得需要照料了。当打扫院子的一个角落的时候，我发现了一个很小的瓶子。它只有两寸高，半寸厚。看上去它应该有个软木塞，但我想应该是个玻璃塞子，就像香水瓶子配的那种。

然后，我开始想象各种可能性。我想它是谁的呢，是从哪里来的呢，会是一个男子送给他心上人的礼物吗？我把它拿给我的邻居看，告诉他我的想法。

“是垃圾。看，瓶口这里有个缺痕，是我把它扔掉的。”他草草地下了结论。

但是在我看来，它不是垃圾，它依然有用。我喜欢把它看作一件礼物。它不仅是过去某个我想象中的男子送给他女朋友的礼物，而且还是送给我的礼物，因为是我找到了它。它还能装东西。我会找来一个小木塞，再装点有颜色的水。

我拿着它，想象着那只扔掉它的手。垃圾？一点点破损并不表示它就没用了。它就像我：我有缺点，遭受过打击，但我还有用。上帝把我从垃圾堆里捡出来，拍去我身上的灰尘，给我找来别的事做。也许写作是我一直应该做的。也许，仅仅是也许，我得先遭破损并被丢弃，然后才能完成上帝给我的使命。

所以，下次当你从一个遭打击并被人视为垃圾的失意人身边走过时，请记住他或她是上帝的化身。在对的人手里，即使是破损了的瓶子也是宝贝。

【人生启迪】

每个人都有不得志的时候，但要记住那也许不是你的原因，而是你的伯乐还没有出现。一定不要轻看自己。保持你的自信，不断地完善并提高自己，这样的话，待你的伯乐出现的时候，你就会一鸣惊人。