勇氣的聲音

佚名

know what courage sounds like. I heard it on a flight I took six years ago, and only now can I speak of it without tears filling eyes at the memory.

When our L1011 left the Orlando airport that Friday morning, we were a chipper, high-energy group. The early morning flights hosted mainly professional people going to Atlanta for a day or two of business. As I looked around, I saw lots of designer suits, CEO-caliber haircuts, leather briefcases and all the trimmings of seasoned business travelers. I settled back for some light reading and the brief flight ahead.

Immediately upon takeoff, it was clear that something was amiss. The aircraft was bumping up and down and jerking left to right. All the experienced travelers, including me, looked around with knowing grins. Our communal looks acknowledged to one another that we had experienced minor problems and disturbances before. If you fly much, you see these things and learn to act blase about them.

We did not remain blase for long. Minutes after we were airborne, our plane began dipping wildly and one wing lunged downward. The plane climbed higher but that didnt help. The pilot soon made a grave announcement.

“We are having some difficulties,” he said. “At this time, it appears we have no nose-wheel steering. Our indicators show that our hydraulic system has failed. We will be returning to the Orlando airport at this time. Because of the lack of hydraulics, we are not sure our landing gear will lock, so the flight attendants will prepare you for a bumpy landing.”

In other words, we were about to crash. The flight attendants helped people get into position and comforted those who were already hysterical.

As I looked at the faces of my fellow business travelers, I was stunned by the changes I saw in their faces. Many looked visibly frightened now. Even the most stoic looked grim and ashen. Everyone lost composure.

Then, I heard a still calm voice, a womans voice, speaking in an absolutely normal conversational tone. There was no tremor or tension. It was a lovely tone. I had to find the source of this voice.

All around, people cried. Many wailed and screamed. A few of the men held onto their composure by gripping armrests and clenching teeth, but their fear was written all over them. Although my faith kept me from hysteria, I could not have spoken so calmly, so sweetly at this moment as the assuring voice I heard. Finally I saw her.

In the midst of all the chaos, a mother was talking, just talking, to her child. The woman, in her unremarkable looking in any other way, was staring into the face of her daughter, who looked to be four years old. The child listened closely, sensing the importance of her mothers words. The mothers gaze held the child so fixed and intent that she seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear around her.

I strained to hear what this mother was telling her child. I was compelled to hear. I needed to hear. Finally, I leaned over and by some miracle could hear this soft, sure voice with the tone of reassurance. Over and over again, the mother said, “I love you so much. Do you know for sure that I love you more than anything？”

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“Yes, Mommy,” the little girl said.

“And remember, no matter what happens, that I love you always, and that you are a good girl. Sometimes things happen that are not your fault. You are still a good girl and my love will always be with you.”

Then the mother put her body over her daughters, strapped the seat belt over both of them and prepared to crash. For no earthly reason, our landing gear held and our touchdown was not the tragedy it seemed destined to be. It was over in seconds.

The voice I heard that day never wavered, never acknowledged doubt, and maintained an evenness that seemed emotionally and physically impossible. Not one of us hardened business people could have spoken without a tremoring voice. Only the greatest courage, undergirded by even greater love, could have borne that mother up and lifted her above the chaos around her. That mom showed me what a real hero looks like. And for those few minutes, I heard the voice of courage.

知道勇氣的聲音是什么樣的，六年前我在飛機上聽到了。直到現在，我才可以不落淚地憑著記憶把這個故事講出來。

那個周五的早上，當我們乘坐的L1011航班飛離奧蘭多機場時，飛機上的人們個個精神飽滿。搭乘早班飛機的人主要是前往亞特蘭大出差一兩天的職業人士。我環顧四周，看到很多品牌西裝、準經理人式發型、皮質公文包以及各種老練的商務旅行者所用的東西。我向后靠靠身子，準備用讀書的方式度過接下來的那段旅程。

起飛不久，飛機很顯然出現了一些故障。機身劇烈地上下顛簸、左右晃動。所有有經驗的旅行者，包括我在內，都會心地微笑著四下看看。大家同樣的表情是在彼此相告：我們經歷過這樣的小麻煩和混亂情況。如果飛機乘坐多了，你就會遇見這樣的事情，就知道該如何應對了。

可是，我們的心沒能平靜多久。飛機升入空中幾分鐘后，機身就開始大幅度傾斜，一個機翼朝下。飛機飛得更高了些，可是無濟于事。沒過多久，飛行員就沮喪地向乘客們作了通報。

他說：“我們現在遇到了一些麻煩。目前看來，似乎是前輪轉向裝置壞了。指示器顯示，飛機的液壓系統失靈。我們現在要返回奧蘭多機場。由于缺少液壓裝置，我們不能確定起落架能否固定得住，因此飛機上的乘務人員會幫助你們作好著陸時的防沖擊準備。”

換句話說，我們要墜機了。乘務人員幫助乘客做好防沖姿勢，并安慰著那些已歇斯底里的人。

當我再看那些因商務出差的旅伴們時，我對他們臉上表情的突變感到驚訝。現在，顯然很多人都受到了驚嚇，就連那些最有自制力的人，表情也變得嚴肅起來，面如死灰。每個人都亂了方寸。

接著，我聽到一個女人的聲音，她的聲音依然是鎮定的。她正在以一種絕對正常的、聊天式的聲調說著話。她的聲音中沒有顫抖，也沒有緊張，就連聲調也是那樣悅耳。我得弄明白這聲音是誰發出來的。

四周的人們都在哭泣。很多人都在哀號和尖叫，還有幾個人死死地抓著椅子把手，緊咬著牙來保持鎮定，然而，恐懼早已在他們身上展露無遺。盡管我的信仰使我沒有變得歇斯底里，但是此刻，我已經不能鎮定地、像我聽到的那個聲音那樣悅耳地、充滿信心地講話了。最后，我看到了她。

混亂中，一位母親正在與她的孩子交談著。她相貌平平，正全神貫注地看著自己大約四歲的女兒的臉。孩子傾聽著，察覺到了母親所說的話的分量。母親如此專注的目光，似乎能讓女孩不受到周圍哀傷和恐懼的聲音的影響。

我努力去聽清楚母親對孩子所說的話。我必須聽到，我需要聽到。我彎下身子，終于奇跡般地聽到了那溫柔的、自信的、令人放心的聲音。一遍又一遍，母親告訴女兒：“我很愛你。你相信媽媽愛你勝過一切嗎？”

“相信，媽媽。”小姑娘回答。

“不管發生什么事，你都要記住，媽媽會一直愛你。你是個好孩子。有些事情的發生并不是你的錯，你還是個好孩子，我的愛將會永遠與你同在。”

說完，母親俯身遮住女兒的身體，用座位上的安全帶將兩個人系在一起，作好了防沖準備。然而，飛機著陸傳動裝置竟然奇跡般地挺住了，看似注定的著陸慘案沒有發生。潛在的危險在數秒之內結束。

我在那天聽到的那個聲音，自始至終都沒有顫抖過，沒有半點猶豫，一直保持著情緒上和身體上令人難以置信的平和。我們這些堅毅的商人，沒有一個可以保持自己的講話聲音不顫抖。只有最偉大的勇氣，在更偉大的愛的鼓舞下，才能支持住母親，使她超然于周圍的混亂。那位母親向我展示出了真正的英雄形象。就在那短短的幾分鐘內，我聽到了勇氣的聲音。

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