One of my most impressive mentors has been “Richard.” I like to call him my guru, which is just another word for a master/ mentor/teacher. I could literally sit for hours listening to him talk. He had a rather rambling style of talk, so if I was not paying attention, I might miss some of his pearls of wisdom. Often he would digress and give a story, but if I paid enough attention, there was usually a moral to the story, a pearl to be gleaned from his vast experience.

“理查德”是对我影响最大的导师之一。我喜欢称呼他为 我的guru，这是老师、导师、引路人的另ー种说法。我真的可以坐下来听他说上几个小时的话。他讲话的时候话题非常跳跃 发散，所以如果我不认真地听，很可能会错过他话语中的 “瑰 宝”。他经常会岔开主题而讲ー个故事，但是如果我够专心的话，通常都能发现故事中的教训，从他丰富的经验中收集到宝 貴的 “珍珠”。

As a young man, he had wandered from his faith. He had made very good money and was running several productive factories. One day he decided to give a factory to one of his daughters. He tried to “bribe her” (his words) to take the job, with a gift of a new car. That day they were driving out to the California desert to try out the new car. However, the new car stalled, and while they waited for help, Richard wandered into the desert.

年轻时的他曾偏离信仰。他赚了许多钱，经营几间效益很好的工厂。有一天，他决定把ー间エ厂送给他其中一个女儿。 他嘗试送她ー辆新车，以“贿赂”（这是他使用的字眼）他的女儿去接受这份工作。那天他们开到加州的沙漠去試新車。后来，新车抛锚了，在等待援助的时候，理查德走进了沙漠去散步。

There in the desert, he visualized the biblical exodus story. He felt he distinctly heard a voice calling to him in English: “Richard, come home.” The following weekend, he returned to church and his faith, which he never left again. It turned out that his mother had been praying for him to do just that throughout all his wandering years.

在沙漠中，他脑海里浮现出圣经里出埃及记的故事。他感覺到一把声音很清晰地用英语叫他: “理查德，回家吧。”就在接下来的周末，他又重回教会，也回归了他的信仰，并且从那一刻起从未离开过。最后他发现，原来在他远离信仰的那些年间，他的母亲一直不断为他的回归而祷告。

With his extensive business connections at a time when the Chinese economy was a great mystery to the outside world, things began to happen for Richard. He had many former classmates and friends from Yenching University, the top university in China, which was later incorporated into Beijing University. Many of his schoolmates became party leaders and were in charge of important divisions of government. With patriotism burning for his motherland, he hosted an exhibition in New York for Americans to understand the vast economy and opportunities that were in China. This was the first big New China exhibition ever on American soil. He garnered a fantastic reputation, which included many contacts among American legislators and Chinese businessman. At this exhibition, new Chinese products were first exposed to US entrepreneurs, and the rest is history.

当时很多国家都不了解中国的经济情况，但由于他在中美之间有频繁的生意往来，对他来说情况开始转变。他有许多燕京大学的老同学与朋友，燕京大学是当时最好的大学，后来合 并成了北京大学。他有许多校友后来成为了党领导人或者是重 要的政府官员。出于对祖国的热忱，他在纽约主办了一个展览 会，以宣传中国庞大的经济体系与机遇。这是在美国本土举办的第一次大型的新中国展览会。他藉此获得了无与伦比的名声， 同时也结交了许多美国立法者与中国商人。在这次展览会上， 新中国的产品第一次展现在美国企业家面前，之后的就是历史 的见证了。

But Richard was not satisfied. With his refound faith, he wanted to serve God in a better way, and soon the opportunities came, as many who wanted to help in China began to show up at his doorstep. Richard had an ailment that got progressively worse, which made travel rather difficult for him. In spite of this, he traveled extensively until he could no longer travel well. He met many high-level officials, and he smoothed the path for many organizations. What was amazing was that after he had made the initial face-to-face encounter, he would spend hours and hours, day and night, on the phone, which he said was just as effective.

但是理查德并没有就此满足。重拾信仰的他希望能更好地服事神，而机会很快就来了，有很多希望能在中国帮点忙的人 都来找他。理查德原本的小毛病开始越发严重，甚至是外出旅行亦变得艰难。然而他并没有理会，反而到处旅行直到他很勉强地完成行程。他会见了很多高层政府官员，也为很多机构铺 平了道路。让人惊奇不已的是，在第一次面对面交流之后，他 都会花上许多时间以电话来与人沟通，而且他认为这种联络方式同样有效。

His Hong Kong home became his office, and people from all over the world would fly into his home and meet him there. Sitting in a circle in his living room, everyone would wait for Richard to give his sage advice. His advice seemed always right on the spot. I remember bringing delegations to his home to hear him. When we took his advice, things went well. When we did not take his advice, things went badly. I remember him telling me how one organization had an extremely difficult time and was even thrown out of China, and how he gave them excellent advice so that they could reenter China through a very different way. “Don’t get too big,” he would say: “Shu da jao feng—Big tree attracts wind.”

他在香港的家很快成为了他的办公室，从世界各地来的人都 去他的家与他会面。到访的人都会在理查德的客厅里围著坐，逐 一等候他提供贤明之见。他的话总是ー语中的。我还记得我带著 ー些机构的代表去到他家里听他的意见。接受了他的意见之后， 事情总是很顺利。若不接受他的意见，事情总是会往不好的方向发展。我记得他告诉我，曾经有一个机构捱尽苦头，甚至被赶 出中国,然后他告诉他们怎样以ー种截然不同的方式重新进入中国。他总是说:”不要发展得过大，因为树大招风。”

Through all of this, I learned the principle of teachability. As we sat there as teachable students of the guru, we learned to be quiet when we needed to be quiet and to listen to the teacher teach. I remember bringing one young aggressive director to meet him. This individual decided that it would be good to tell Richard about all the problems and all the solutions, and on and on it went. Richard sat there and said nothing. At the very end of this lengthy monologue, Richard thanked us, and we went our way. My friend asked me, “How come he didn’t say anything?” to which, I replied, “Because you were talking. There was dead silence.

这一切让我学会了要有一颗受教的心。当我们像“孺子” ー样坐在导师面前时，我们学会了在需要安静的时候保持安静， 在需要聆听老师教导的时候认真聆听。我记得曾经带著一位非常固执己见的年轻主任去见理查德。这个人认为应该把所有问 题和所有解决方式都对理查德说一遍，于是他不断地说啊说。 理查德只是坐著，什么也没说。在听完这些长篇大論的自说自 话之后，理查德向我们道谢，我们就离开了。我的朋友问我: “他怎麼能什么都不说呢?” 我回答说: “因为你一直在说话啊。” 然后我们都陷入了沉默。

To be teachable means learning to shut one’s mouth and to listen. In this world, we are often taught to be aggressive, to talk and talk and express all the wonderful ideas that we have. Teachability means that we have a teachable heart, that we are willing to listen to the teacher.

要有受教的心意味著学会闭上自己的嘴去聆听。在这个世 界，我们所受的教导往往是要善于表现自己，不断地说话以表达自己所有的好主意。有一颗受教的心，意味著我们愿意去听老师的教导。

I often go to China or northern Thailand to teach young children and youth in remote mountain areas. What often impresses me is their teachable spirit. These kids in rural areas especially have a great respect for teachers, and they respond in wonderful ways. You can see the sparkle in their eyes as they focus their attention totally on the teacher. They are very attentive, and they want to learn. You can truly see the pure joy of learning in these kids. That’s why when I brought medical teams into these areas, the doctors and nurses preferred to teach in the schools rather than work in the clinics. The attraction was so great that our own administration put the brakes on and warned us not to overdo it.

我经常去中国或者泰国北部偏远的山区教导孩子与年轻 人。让我印象深刻的是他们都有一颗受教的心。乡村地区的这 些孩子特别尊敬老师，他们的反应也是可圈可点的。你能看到 他们注视老师时候眼睛里的那ー种火花。他们注意力非常集中， 非常渴望学习。你真的能看见这些孩子在学习中透露出单纯的快乐。这就是为什么当我带著医疗队伍来到这些地区时，相比于在诊所里工作，队伍中的医生和护士更喜欢在学校教书。这种吸引力是那么大，以致我们的行政部常常提醒我们不要忘记 自己的本职，尽量少去做教书的工作。

I realized that people who are teachable can learn a lot. The spirit of teachability is something that we in the West sometimes forget, to our detriment. When Christ said that to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we have to be as children, I think He meant that we have to be teachable; we have to have the humblest of heart and attitude and be willing to sit before the Master and listen to Him tell us, teach us, and inspire us.

我发现受教的人能学到更多東西。这种受教的心在西方经 常被遗忘，这实在是我们的损失。基督说进入天国的人都要像 孩子ー样，我想祂的意思应该是要我们有受教的心。我们要有谦卑的心与谦卑的态度，愿意在主面前坐下来，认真地听祂， 让祂吩咐、教导和启发我们。

I have had many mentees myself, both in the academic and spiritual realm. There’s little question to me that those who remained teachable blossomed and grew to be the wonderful people that they are. One academic fellow would basically barge into my office at 5:00 p.m. nearly every day and insist on “draining my brain.” He would provoke me to talk through case scenarios, academic puzzles, research dilemmas, and faith-related questions, and we would spend the next hour in wonderful debate. I could feel my brain draining out to him. It was intense, but invigorating. Other young people have been willing to sit down with me over a meal or to talk to me on the phone just to chat or to ask about directions in life, or the decisions that have to be made.

在学术上与灵命上，我都有许多后辈。那些一直存有受教之心的人毫无疑问都成为了非常优秀的人。有一个研究生基本 上每天下午5时都会冲进我的办公室，坚持 “榨乾我的脑细胞”。 他通过各种案例、学术上的难题、研究上的困境和信仰上的问题来鼓励我表达自己，然后我们会花ー小时作出精彩的讨论。 我能感觉到我的脑汁都要被他榨乾了。这个过程非常激烈，但 是让人精力充沛。另ー些年轻人就希望用ー顿饭的时间或者通 过电话来与我聊天，或是为 人生的方向，或是为要做的决定寻求指引。

May all of us maintain that spirit of teachability and learn from teachers, mentors, and yes, even gurus.

盼望我们每个人都有一 颗受教的心，向老师、导师， 甚至guru学习。