Seeking God and being a volunteer at a senior center helped me to look at life in a different way, life switches between easy and difficult. Sometimes life is full of enjoyment, sometimes it is a challenge. A sick and homeless person, a sick, lonely old person, a family fighting with cancer in a family member, a single mom looking for a stable job to support her family, an kind person who is oppressed but still nice to who the people who oppressed him/her… They all have something in a common, which is that they show vitality through the difficulties of life. God knows the benefits that these challenges bring to us.

親近神、做志工讓我重新看待生命~生命總在難與易間交替。有時生命是一種享受，有時是挑戰。一個生病又露宿街頭的遊民，獨居又帶病痛的老人，與癌症病魔纏鬥的兒童、壯年或老年朋友的家庭，為養家糊口在找一份安定工作的單親媽媽，被壓迫卻仍努力善待壓迫他的善士⋯這些困難面對相似的考驗，展現靈性生命力的考驗。真主知道那考驗對我們的利益。

Vitality is shown through tests. A seed needs to break its shell to germinate, roots need to break through compact soil to stabilize, A butterfly needs to break the cocoon to show its beauty, … the former part of life needs to die in order become a new life. This is the same as the spirit of life in mankind. It is like a tree that needs to penetrate the hard soil to establish its roots. It needs to go through seasons of change to renew. Part of the tree is gone at the end of every autumn and it is renewed again in the new spring season. This process continues until the tree becomes mature and full of fruits. The spirit of life grows when we see the old self die after every challenge and the new self born when it breaks through. This is how our soul, the eternal life, grows.

生命力總是在考驗中顯得堅韌，種子要破殼才能發芽，根要進入紮實的土層才能穩固，蝴蝶要破繭而出… 讓舊的部分死去，取而代之的是一個新生命。人的靈性生命之樹亦然，在一次次生命的歷練中往下扎根，在一次次更新的季節中更生與復甦，讓舊的自我死去，更高層的自我就能展現，直至長成參天大樹。

艾布·伯克爾生病後，有人去探望他，對他說：“我們為你請一位大夫吧？”艾布·伯克爾回答說：“大夫（暗指真主）已經看了我。 ”眾人問：“大夫是怎麼說的？”艾布·伯克爾回答說：“大夫說：我要做我想做之事。”

Umar said: ” We have found that the best life is that which is accompanied by patience.” He also said: “The best life that we can experience is that of patience, and if patience were a man, he would be most generous.”

歐麥爾說：“我們發現最好的生活中總是伴隨著堅忍。”他還說：“我們經歷過的最好生活是忍耐的生活。如果忍耐是一個人，那他必定是個君子。”

Ali said: “Truly, patience is to faith as the head is to the body. If the head is severed, the body becomes wasted.” Then, he raised his voice and said: ” Verily, there is no faith in the man who has no patience.” He also said: “Patience is a mount that does not stumble or trip.”

阿里說：“真的，耐心屬於信仰，就像大腦屬於身體。如果頭腦斷裂，身體也就毀了。”然後，他提高聲音說：“真的，一個人若沒有了忍耐力，也就沒有了信仰。”他還說：“堅忍是一匹不會絆跤的坐騎。”

Al-Hasan said: “Patience is a treasure from the treasures of goodness, a treasure that God does not give away except to a servant (of His) whom He regards as being worthy.”

哈桑說：“忍耐是來自美德寶庫裡的一個寶物，真主只將它施與他的慷慨的奴僕。 ”

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz said: “Whenever Allah gives a blessing to one of His servants and then removes it from him and supplants it with patience, then that which replaces is invariably better than that which is being replaced.”

歐麥爾·本·阿齊茲說：“只要真主賜福於僕人一件恩典，然後將之從僕人身上移走，真主就會以堅忍取而代之，或者給他賞賜比失去的更好的。 ”

Sulayman ibn al-Qaasim said: “The reward for every deed other than patience is known.” God, the Exalted, said: “Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full, without reckoning. (Qur’an 39:10)”

蘇萊曼·本·戛西姆說：“一切工作的獎賞都會眾所周知，堅韌雖然也是一件賞賜，但往往不為人知。 ” 清高偉大的真主說：”惟有堅忍的人得享受安全的無量的報酬。(古蘭經 39:10)”

Robert Louis Stevenson said: “Every person is capable of performing his daily tasks, no matter how difficult they are, and every person is capable of living happily during his day until the sun sets: and this is the meaning of life.”

羅伯特·羅絲·史蒂芬森說：“每個人都有能力做好每天的工作，不管那些工作有多難；每個人都有能力快樂度過每一天，而這正是生命的真諦。”

O SON OF BEING! Thy Paradise is My love. Put thy hand into My bosom, that I may rise above thee, raidant and resplendent. Ascend unto My heaven, that thou mayest obtain the joy of reunion, and from the chalice of imperishable glory quaff the peerless wine. My eternity is My creation, I have created it for three. Enter therein and tarry not. (Bahá’u’lláh)

生命之子啊! 你的樂園是我的愛。把你的手放在我的胸前，使我能光明而燦爛地在你之上興起。昇上我的天堂，使你能獲得重聚的欣悅，並從永恆榮耀之聖杯裡啜飲無盡甘美的醇醴。我的永恆乃是我的創造，而我為你創造了它。進來吧，別在遲疑。 (巴哈歐拉)