【陳家洛】五個小孩的爸爸

A Father Prayer
by General Douglas MacArthur (May 1952)

「一個父親的禱告」

Build me a son, O Lord,
who will be strong enough to know when he is weak; brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishes not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee
— and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him I pray,
not in the path of ease and comfort,
but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.
Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men, one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his,
add, I pray,
enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously.
Give him humility,
so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then, I, his father
will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.”

主啊！求祢塑造我的兒子，
使他夠堅強到能認識自己的軟弱；
夠勇敢到能面對懼怕；
在誠實的失敗中，毫不氣餒；
在勝利中，仍保持謙遜溫和。

懇求塑造我的兒子，
不至空有幻想而缺乏行動；
引導他認識祢，同時又知道，
認識自己乃是真知識的基石。

我祈禱，
願祢引導他不求安逸、舒適，
相反的，經過壓力、艱難和挑戰，
學習在風暴中挺身站立，
學會體恤那些在重大壓力之下失敗的人。

求祢塑造我的兒子，
心地清潔，目標遠大；
使他在指揮別人之前，
先懂得駕馭自己；
永不忘記過去的教訓，
又能伸展未來的理想。

當他擁有以上的一切，
我還要祈求，賜他足夠的幽默感，
使他能認真嚴肅，
卻不致過分苛求自己。

懇求賜他謙卑，
使他永遠牢記，
真偉大中的平凡，
真智慧中的開明，
真勇力中的溫柔。

如此，我這作父親的，
才敢低聲說：「我沒有虛度此生。」