国家地理:不要让流行病夺走我们的欢庆(2)

Maybe our definition of holy and whole have to change. The early morning is holy. Holy is the warmth of the grocer or grandchild, or a bowl of homegrown tomatoes from the neighbor who once reported you on Nextdoor. I'm whole, -ish, older, slower, with a few dings.

或许我们需要修改神圣和完整的定义。清晨是神圣的。神圣是杂货店老板或孙子女带来的温暖，或是邻居种的一碗西红柿。我是完整的，有点完整，只是年纪较大、动作较慢，还有一些缺点。

Holy are the candles of the menorah or carolers, or a community bonfire. These days are about the coming of the light -- warmth, illumination, life anew. The triumph of light over darkness, as in the Persian tradition of Yalda: gathering¹ with loved ones by candlelight and firelight, reading poetry and telling stories -- and the inevitable² sacrament of eating special foods -- to celebrate the longest night of the year. It's called “the night of birth.” We are there now. It's beautiful, and hard, as life so often is. Suffering is part of the beauty of the human drama.

神圣是光明节的大烛台、唱圣歌的人或小区的篝火晚会。这些日子是关于光的降临--温暖、光亮、新生；关于光明战胜黑暗，就像波斯传统的雅尔塔之夜：在烛光和火光下与亲人相聚，朗读诗歌和说故事--并且享用必备圣餐中的特别食物--以庆祝一年之中最漫长的夜晚。它被称为“诞生之夜”。如今我们正身处其中。美丽而艰辛，就如同生活经常的样子。承受痛苦是人生剧场之美的一部分。

Finding what is sacred amid the loss might look like a wild spiritual awakening³. It might be a secular⁴ return to the rituals your people have been performing for millennia⁵ -- our peeps always did it, let's do it too -- or new DIY rites⁶ your loved ones create.

在失落中寻找神圣之事看起来像奇特的灵性觉醒。可能是一位世俗之人回归他们的民族已执行数千年的仪式--祖先都这么做，我们也照做--或者通过亲人新发明的DIY仪式来达成。

All of these offer connection with the larger, truer world, with the ancient, with timelessness and the luminous⁷ now. Rituals fill our souls and tummies. They distract, refocus, enliven.

所有这些仪式，如今都让我们与更广阔真实的世界产生关联，也将我们和古老、永恒与光明相互串连。这些仪式填满了我们的灵魂和肚子。它们转移了我们的注意力，使我们重新聚焦，并恢复活力。

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

3 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

4 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

5 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

6 rites   

仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
• He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。

7 luminous   

adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的

参考例句：

• There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
• Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。