《剪下一方暖和--喻道小故事》

比薩斜塔 Tower of Pisa

According to a story in the Chicago Tribune, around 1990, the leaning Tower of Pisa began to lean too far. Seeing that the 180-foot-high tower would soon become dangerous, engineers designed a system to salvage the 12th-century landmark by holding the lean constant.

First, the engineers injected super cold liquid nitrogen into the ground around the tower to “freeze the area” and thereby minimize dangerous ground vibrations during their work and in future years.

Then they installed cables to pull the structure more upright. The underground cables were expected to pull the tower toward center by at least one inch.

Left to itself, our world resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa, tilting and heading toward catastrophe . To prevent total anarchy , God establishes governments to maintain order and stability. Authority and government function like the underground steel cables that hold up the Tower of Pisa. The tower still leans. It’s not perfect. But the cables prevent total destruction.

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字彙
Salvage拯救
Nitrogen氮
Vibration震動
Catastrophe災難
Anarchy無政府狀態



芝加哥論壇報導了一則故事，在一九九零年左右，比薩斜塔開始傾斜得很厲害。眼看著這座一百八十英尺的高塔很快會造成危險，工程師就設計了一個維持斜度的系統，來搶救這個十二世紀的地標。

首先，工程師注入超級冷的液體氮到斜塔周圍的土地裡，「凍住這塊區域」，使他們施工時和在將來年日中的地面震動危險減至最小。然後，他們安裝纜繩把這個建築結構拉得比較直。他們期望地下纜繩能把斜塔拉向中心至少一英吋。

我們的世界，如果置之不理，就會像比薩斜塔一樣傾斜，朝向災難的結局。為了防止無政府狀態，上帝設立政府維持秩序與安定。權柄與政府的功能就像拉住比薩斜塔的地下鋼纜。塔仍然傾斜，並非完美，但纜繩防止了全面毀滅。

思考與應用

1. 有沒有什麼事，如果我們置之不理，一定會出問題？(健康、家庭…)
2. 在動手處理岌岌可危的事前，防範措施也很重要，不然可能會崩塌更快，你曾有這種經驗嗎？

about 【剪下一方暖和】專欄譯者：顧美芬