拖延！ Delay！
【作者:取材自「路德名言集」 顧美芬譯】剪下一方暖和--喻道小故事 2013.07.14
“He who neglects an opportunity will be neglected by the opportunity”, “In front opportunity has hair, but it is bald behind”. These are the writings exhort us to be prompt, Martin Luther once said.
Indeed, our God teaches this truth through nature. A farmer should sow his barley and oats near Easter. If he wants to put it off until Michaelmas , he waits too long. When the apples are ripe you should pick them. If you want to postpone it for a long time, they, of course, will be gone. Delay is a vice that is the opposite of promptness.
字彙
Exhort 勸勉。
Michaelmas 米迦勒節(9/29，在英國是每年四次的支付日之ㄧ)。
Vice 惡，壞習慣。
「忽視機會的人會被機會忽視」，「機會的前面有頭髮，後面是禿頭」。馬丁路德有一次說，這些都是勸勉我們的寫作。
的確，神藉自然界教導我們這些真理。農夫應該在復活節前後種大麥和燕麥，如果拖延到米迦勒節，就等太久了。蘋果熟了就要摘，如果拖了很長一段時間，當然就沒有了。拖延是惡習，與即刻剛好相反。
思考與應用
1. 你曾有過抓不住機會的懊惱嗎？
2. 新年新希望，有什麼是你不再拖延的決心？
註：「路德名言集」（What Luther Says—An anthology，Compiled by Ewald M. Plass）
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