Preface

I wrote this a week ago, when a particular thought occurred to me, which is contained herein, and at the time I was unthinkingly thinking in Chinese. I wrote it out, and had a mentor of mine, and native speaker, look it over. She edited the logic and added one or two elegant phrases for me. I translated it into English, and here it is. It has a Chinese feel…

母亲节

宇宙的秘密

在美国，今天是母亲节，我想趁这个机会说几句。

孔子曰：“父在，观其志；父没，观其行。” 我并不是要讲孔子的坏话，但是我觉得在孔子的年代，并没有人描述是谁教育了父亲。让我们看一看：

我们的母亲喜欢抽烟，喝酒，打架和赌钱吗？是谁让你的家一尘不染？是谁欣赏你的美丽？我们都会偶尔吃喝玩乐，但是谁回家小孩和老人？是谁能安慰悲哀的？

我们都想要和平的世界，文明的社会，但我们并不需要去寻找古代的师父，也不用去书中寻找。不用背诗，不用看国家的价值观念；甚至是科学也没用。那我们怎么办？很简单，问你身边的妈妈！

Mother’s Day

or

The Secret of the Universe

Today, in America, it is Mother’s Day, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say a few words.

Confucius said: “When the father is near, follow his will; and when the father is away, consider his actions.” Now, I don’t mean to speak ill of Confucius, but I think some folks in his time forgot to record who it was that taught “the father.” Let’s take a look:

Do our mothers smoke, drink, fight and gamble? Who reminds you to keep the home clean? Who appreciates your beauty? Sometimes we all like a bit of fun, but who comes home to take care of the kids and the grandparents? Who can comfort the grieved?

Everyone wants a peaceful world, and civilized society; but we need not look into ancient texts, or peruse books for the answers to these questions. We need not memorize poetry or look to our nations values. Even science is of no use here. Then, what do we do? Simple: look who’s next to you… ask your mom.

Afterword

…and a moment for the moms who have worked tirelessly amidst the shadows of great people, and who have finally escaped silently into the night…