【英语语言学习】死亡之桥

All humans share two life events – birth and death.

However, people deal with death in many different ways. Culture, religion, personal beliefs and fear all influence our reactions. Sometimes death seems so sad that we look for help, for comfort, sometimes in unusual ways.

Abigail McCarthy remembers awakening¹ and walking outside her bedroom one night during childhood in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“As a small child I remember, in the house we were staying, and we stayed in quite an old house, and waking up and there a woman at the top of the passage -- thinking it was my mother, calling for her. And when she turned around, I saw it wasn’t my mother.”

Later, people told her that the woman she said she saw had died in the house years before.

Today, Abigail McCarthy is in her early 40s with long, dark hair and intense blue-green eyes. She was about six years old when she believes she started seeing dead people.

She says that at first, she felt very afraid of talking with what she calls spirits of the dead. But she got over her fear. She became a medium, a person in the middle, so to speak, of the world of the living and the world of the dead. She says being a medium, a bridge to the after-life, did not come easy to her.

She says the more contact she had with the dead, the more she understood that she was helping² people deal with death.

Ms. McCarthy says that people often struggle to accept the deaths of their loved ones. This is especially true of those who die in terrible circumstances or terrible situations.

People in mourning come to Ms. McCarthy

Ms. McCarthy now works as a medium at a spiritual healing center in Johannesburg. There she has dealt with people at the lowest points in their lives -- people who have lost their life partners or parents who have lost all their children in auto³ accidents.

“I’ve had a father who lost his children, you know, people who have lost their parents recently or ... but the children, yeah ... when that happens, the pain is unbearable⁴ … or somebody losing their partner. You do find a desperation with them. They are lost.”

Ms. McCarthy says her clients often ask her to finish unfinished business – things like unsettled anger or hurtful words that may have been said. Some people come to her looking for forgiveness.

How Does a Medium Work?

Abigail McCarthy says her communication with dead people begins on a blank, empty page. She asks her clients – people who come to her -- to tell as little as possible about the person they want her to reach. Then she says she just starts talking.

She says she does not really see dead people in the room. Instead, she says she feels their presence and sees them in her mind. She adds that what she sees is not like in the movies .

“I literally⁵ see in my mind a person or a place or how they look, what they are wearing, what they are saying or trying to get across. Nothing bizarre⁶ happens. The room doesn’t shake. Things aren't knocked over.”

Ms. McCarthy does not hurry to call her so-called ability to communicate with dead people a gift.

“I hesitate to call it a gift. But yeah, I do believe we’ve all got our gifts. I don’t agree that it’s something that’s special or that you’re above others. I think it’s got to be used in the right way; I think you’ve got to be very careful that you don’t become arrogant⁷ with it.”

Some religions condemn⁸ or forbid attempts to contact dead people. And even working with a medium is considered a sin. Ms. McCarthy feels that it is up to the individual.

“I have had a couple of readings with people that are religious and have been a bit nervous and have said, ‘Is this okay; should I maybe not be here?’ And I always say: ‘Well, that’s up to you. I certainly don’t believe what I’m doing is evil. But if you really are that uncomfortable then maybe you mustn’t do it.’”

 

Ms. McCarthy says that in the past she often wished that she was not a medium. She wished she had a “more normal” career. But she says she has learned to accept her ability. And she says she enjoys helping other people.

“I don't run around preaching⁹ love and light. I just do what I do in the time that I do it. And I’ve learned to see that it’s helpful for others, and I’m seeing that as the good side. And actually, if I had to stop now it would be a little disappointing. I enjoy helping people.”

Ms. McCarthy understands that some people do not believe her. But that does not change the fact that she believes she is helping people by giving them peace of mind.

I’m Anna Matteo.

1 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。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

4 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 bizarre   

adj.奇形怪状的，怪诞的

参考例句：

• They saw a bizarre animal in the lake.他们在湖中看见一个奇怪的动物。
• The building was of bizarre construction.这建筑构造奇异。

7 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

8 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

9 preaching   

n.讲道，讲道法v.布道( preach的现在分词 )；劝诫；说教；宣传

参考例句：

• The man was preaching the Gospel. 此人在传布福音。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These misguided people go around preaching up violence. 这些误入歧途的人到处鼓吹暴力。 来自《简明英汉词典》