2006年NPR美国国家公共电台十二月-All the Joy the World Contains

I believe in figuring out of my own way to do things.
I believe in the power of numbers.
I believe in Barbecue.
Well, I believe in friendliness¹.
I believe in mankind.
This I believe.
It’s Monday the day we bring you our series This I Believe. And today we hear from singer and songwriter Jimmy Dale Gilmore. He’s known for his unlikely blend of eastern mysticism with the deep country sound of West Texas.
Here’s our series curator Independent Producer Jay Allison.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore once embraced the outlaw² musician way of life. He says he used to think he knew everything and the eventual³ realization⁴ that he didn’t was hard-earned. It was his own mistakes that led him to his belief. Here is Jimmy Dale Gilmore with his essay for This I Believe.

The question of belief has always been a source of confusion for me. Most of my life ,I have been torn between a deep longing⁵ for certainty and an equally deep skepticism. At times the ability to convince myself of vast unprovable notions was kind of soothing⁶. But the relief was usually short-lived. The truce⁷ with pessimism⁸ bordering on nihilism was a very tenuous⁹ one. My outer life mirrored this conflict as I went from one extreme to another, sometimes aspiring¹⁰ to mystical otherworldliness and other times living in the nightlife music world not far removed from the criminal. I did my best to cultivate belief but could only come up with what Allan Watch once called a "belief in belief". The real thing remained elusive¹¹. Brief glimpses of beautiful, inspirational meaning would slowly fade into boredom¹² or sorrow at the state of the world and even cynicism. It came as a great shock to discover that my real spiritual problem was not a product of the world’s condition but of my own self-centeredness. I caused hurt and sorrow to those closest to me by living my life with my own gratification as the guiding principle. The old cliché that experience is the best teacher proved itself to me with a vengeance¹³. For some of us it seems experience is the only teacher. I had to learn the hard way. I went through a few years of just getting lost and more lost--- the drugs to sexy alcohol:it sounds like a lot of fun, that is if you don’t figure in the remorseful¹⁴ hangovers, the depression or the loneliness that is both the cause and the effect of the whole vicious circle. I went far enough down to have to either change or die. I basically managed to break my own heart, but people are capable of learning and learning that I had no wisdom on my own finally open the way for me to learn from those who did. I was given a second chance. I found that what I once considered empty platitudes¹⁵ are actually descriptions of fact. Jesus said it is better to give than to receive. I now know that to be the case, not by faith but by experience. I finally discovered the beautiful paradoxical truth that genuine concern for the welfare of others is the gateway¹⁶ to the only real satisfaction for myself. I cannot claim to consistently live up to this ideal but it is with genuine gratitude¹⁷ that I can say I have come to believe these words of the Indian philosopher poet Shantideva: All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others; All the misery¹⁸ the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.

Jimmy Dale Gilmore with his essay for This I Believe. He told us reading aloud isn’t easy for him, he misses the melody and rhythm. This is Gilmore singing his song I’m Gonna Love You.

You found me when my heart was broken
And the cold world was closing in

If you would like to contribute an essay to our series, or see what others have written, visit our website: NPR.org
For This I Believe, I'm Jay Allison.

You found me when my wings were broken
And I was crying to the...
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mysticism
a religious practice in which people try to get knowledge of truth and to become united with God through prayer and meditation
hard-earned
earned or achieved after a lot of effort
short-lived
existing or happening for only a short time:
nihilism
the belief that nothing has any meaning or value
otherworldly
relating to religious thoughts and ideas rather than with normal daily life
with a vengeance
with great force or more effort than before:
The music started up again with a vengeance.

1 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

2 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

3 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

4 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

5 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

6 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

7 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

8 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

9 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

10 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

11 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

12 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

13 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

14 remorseful   

adj.悔恨的

参考例句：

• He represented to the court that the accused was very remorseful.他代被告向法庭陈情说被告十分懊悔。
• The minister well knew--subtle,but remorseful hypocrite that he was!牧师深知这一切——他是一个多么难以捉摸又懊悔不迭的伪君子啊！

15 platitudes   

n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子

参考例句：

• He was mouthing the usual platitudes about the need for more compassion. 他言不由衷地说了些需要更加同情之类的陈腔滥调。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He delivered a long prose full of platitudes. 他发表了一篇充满陈词滥调的文章。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

17 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

18 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。