提要

「知足」就是看看自己多幸福。幸福是主觀的感受，要覺得幸福非常簡單，只需要算算看，自己得到的眷顧有多少？。其實有東西吃、能正常呼吸，甚至有夢，都是一種幸福。幸福一直在身邊，但若總是聚焦於生活中的不如意，讓身心在痛苦中煎熬，當然無法察覺自己早已擁有的幸福。

A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God's hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbor urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, "I am waiting for God to save me." The neighbor drove off in his pick-up truck.

The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.

The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.

When he reached heaven and asked, "God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?" God replied, "I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat, and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?"

The Tree and the Travellers

Once, there was a huge tree with a broad trunk and innumerable branches right in the middle of dry land. The tree gave rest and shelter to hundreds and thousands of travelers. Being located near four towns, and many villages, the tree was an ideal meeting point for travelers.

One day, two travelers reached the tree after a long time of walking. Their destination was one of the towns nearby. It was a hot and sunny day, and the travelers were very happy to take a rest under the tree. Exhausted, they slumped under the tree. They slept for a while, enjoying the cool shade and the soft breeze.

For a while later, one of the travelers got hungry, but they had no food with them. The hungry traveler looked up at the tree, try to see if there was any fruit in vain, he began to curse the tree. "Oh, this is just a useless tree and it has nothing to feed us, not even fruit or nuts!"

The other traveler comforted him and asked him to stay cool. However, the hungry man continued his cursing.

The tree, which could not tolerate the cursing words of the traveler, said in a sad yet strong voice, "You can't be so ungrateful to me. Just think of your condition when you reached here in the hot and dry sun! I offered you a cool and comfortable place to rest and sleep with a soothing breeze. If I was not here, you would have died now! I saved your life from the hot sun, but you humiliate me!"

Knowing that he should be grateful for your blessings. The traveler realized his mistake and apologized to the tree.

解說

洪水期間，一名男子受困在自己的房屋。他開始祈求上天拯救他。他幻想從天空伸出一隻手，將他抬到安全的地方。他的房子周圍的水開始上升，鄰居催促他，並表示可以讓他乘車安全離開。那個男人大聲喊道：「我在等上帝拯救我。」於是鄰居開著他的小卡車走了。

那名男子繼續祈禱並堅持會看他幻想的景象。當他的房裡的水位開始上升時，他不得不爬上屋頂。一艘船駛過，準備帶一些人前往安全的地方。船上的人對男子大叫，要他抓住他們準備扔過來的繩子，好把他拉上船。他告訴船上的人，他在等神來救他。船上的人們搖搖頭，繼續前進。

那個男人繼續祈禱，全心相信他會被上帝伸出手拯救。洪水繼續上升。一架直升機飛過、降下繩梯，用擴音器叫他從屋頂攀繩梯上直升機。那個男人揮走了直升機，高喊著他正等著上帝拯救他。直升機也離開了，洪水從屋頂湧上，急流將他捲走。他淹死了。

當他到達天堂後問上帝：「祢為什麼不救我？我全心全意地相信祢，為什麼要讓我淹死？」上帝回答說：「我派了一輛小卡車、一艘船和一架直升機，都被你拒絕。我還能為你做什麼呢？」

樹和旅者

曾經有一棵巨大的樹，樹幹寬闊、枝葉茂盛，座落在乾枯的土地中央，提供千百計的旅客庇蔭和休息的場所。因位於四個城鎮和許多村莊附近，這棵樹是旅行者的理想聚會地點。

有一天，兩位旅者經過長時間的步行後到達樹下，他們的目的地是附近的城鎮。這是一個陽光燦爛的炎熱日子，旅者們很高興地在樹下休息。筋疲力盡的他們，在樹下倒頭就睡，享受了一段時間的陰涼和微風吹拂。

過了一陣子，其中一位旅者感到飢餓，但他們沒有食物。飢腸轆轆的他抬頭看著樹，想試著找些果實卻一無所獲，他開始詛咒這棵樹：「哦，這只是棵無用的樹，它沒有任何東西可以讓我們充饑，水果或堅果都沒有！」

另一位旅者安慰他並請他保持冷靜，然而，餓得發慌的人繼續他的咒罵。

無法忍受旅者的咒罵，這棵樹用悲傷卻強而有力的聲音說：「你不能對我這麼忘恩負義。當你在炎熱乾燥的豔陽下到這裡時，想想自己的狀況！我提供你一個涼爽的地方休息，還有微風讓你舒服的睡覺。如果我不在這裡，你現在就會死！我從酷熱中救了你的命，但你竟羞辱我！」

知道該知足惜福的旅者，察覺自己的錯誤，並向會說話的樹道歉。