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Who Is Packing Our Spiritual Parachute?
谁在打包你的灵魂降落伞？
Charles "Chuck" Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam.
查尔斯“恰克”．帕朗柏是越战中美国海军的一位喷射机驾驶员。
After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.
在完成了七十五次战役任务后，他的飞机被一枚地对空飞弹击毁。
Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemyhands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison.
帕朗柏跳伞逃命，却降落在敌方阵营里。他被越共俘虏并被监禁六个月。
He survived the ordeal and now lectures on the lessons he learnt from that experience.
之后，他从这场苦难中成功逃生。现在，他为人们演讲有关他从经历中所学到的功课。
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You
flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the Aircraft Carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shotdown!"
有一天，当帕朗柏和妻子在一家餐厅用餐时，隔壁桌一位先生走过来说道：「你是帕朗柏！在越战中，你驾驶从小鹰号航空母舰上起飞的喷射
战机，当时你的战机被飞弹打下来了！」
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
帕朗柏问：「天！你是怎么知道这件事的？」
"I packed your parachute," the man replied.
这位先生回答：「你的降落伞是我负责打包整理的。」
Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.
帕朗柏惊讶地倒抽了一口气，立即向他表示谢意。
The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"
这位先生使劲地握着帕朗柏的手说：「我想那个降落伞确实发挥了功效！」
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chutehadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."
帕朗柏向他确认道：「它的确发挥了功效，否则我今天就不会在这里了。」
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man.
那一晚帕朗柏无法入睡，心中一直想着那位先生。
Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-
bottom trousers.
帕朗柏说：「我一直在想，当他穿着海军制服——戴着白帽、穿着工作背心和喇叭裤时，会是什么模样呢？
I wonderhow many times I might have seen him and not even said, "Good morning, how are you?" or anything because, you see, I
was a fighter pilot and he was "just" a sailor."
有多少次当我看到他时，可能连一句『早安，你好吗？』之类打招呼的话都没有说，因为我是战机驾驶，而他『只是』一位水手而已。」
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the
shrouds and foldingthe silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fateof someone he didn't know.
帕朗柏想到那位水手在船内的长木桌上，花了无数个小时，小心翼翼地整理着吊伞索，并一一迭好每个降落伞，每一次他的手里都掌握着某个
他不认识的人的命运。
Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who'spacking your parachute?"
现在，帕朗柏总会问着听众：「是谁帮你们打包『降落伞』呢？」
Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.
我们每个人的「降落伞」都是由别人打包的，正是这些「降落伞」使得我们能顺利渡过每一天。
Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed
his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute.
帕朗柏也指出当他的飞机在敌人领空被打下来时，他需要各种不同的降落伞：物质的降落伞、精神的降落伞、情感的降落伞和心灵的降落伞。
He called on all these supports before reaching safety.
在安全抵达地面之前，他需要所有这些降落伞的支持。
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important.
我们每天面临生活中的挑战，有时候会遗漏了一些真正重要的事情。
We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, to congratulate people on something wonderful that has happened to them, to
give a compliment, or just to do something nice for no reason.
对于周遭的人，我们可能会忘了向他们打声招呼、说个「请」字或表达谢意，或是当某个人遇到好事时，忘了祝贺他、讲些赞美的话，或是单
纯无目的地做一些善事。
As you go through this week, this month, and this year, recognise people who pack your parachutesand send them your
gratitude.
随着你渡过这个星期、这个月或今年，请试着找出那些帮你打包「降落伞」的人，并向他们致上谢意。
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