天涯共此時 Moments Together
In this work, English is below Mandarin wording creations. Thank you.
二○二六
第一季
說不完的震撼與感動分享會
台灣時間二○二六年二月一日上午十一點起
地點
台中市市政北一路20號精銳紐約之星23樓
(台中捷運市政府站步行六分鐘可達)
場地借用至下午三點鐘止
下午三點鐘後可移駕至該棟一樓大廳繼續交流
飲食
POT LUCK，即自由攜帶想與大家分享的任何種類食品一人份左右即可
活動內容
與不同人群溫馨連結的美好與感動
歡迎各行各業人士到場與我們提綱契領，分享您生活日常中的美好與感動
徵求當日活動進行時義工
計時人員—請自備計時器(如手機)及備妥提醒方式(如揮揮衣袖)
場地設備
冷熱飲水機(可自行沖泡您所需之茶水咖啡等)
電視(可接DMI線後進行簡報用，但在場或無筆電而需自行準備哦)
桌、椅、沙發、洗手間等
無法到場需透過線上會議方式參與連結
GOOGLE MEET— https://meet.google.com/odm-uwki-jga
誠摰敬邀
內心與外表溫暖而陽光的各界人士
當場募集捐助平均每人每日收入及花費美元一塊以下國際間社區之物資
雖然使用過但已不再需要，卻仍堪用的筆電與手機若干
免費參與
當我讀到甘地、馬丁．路德．金恩這樣的人物時，尤其從他人筆下如傳記般對他們仍然在世時的描述時，我總會注意到他們是多麼平和；歷史上的偉人似乎都顯得極為持重，他們不會立即以負面方式回應任何在他們身邊所發生的人、事、物，根據不同書籍對這類人物的描述，這種寧靜也延伸到他們的生活中：即便面臨強烈的攻擊，這些古今偉人們也幾乎鮮少吼叫或者咆哮，更不輕易顯露他們的憤怒。他們溫和卻充滿勇氣的氣魄在在提醒著我們：
一旦我們把他人的利益放在自己之前，一旦我們的視野越來越宏大，那份關懷的態度，便似乎會讓我們也能成為那樣的偉人。唯一的問題是，在我們存在於這個星球上的所有時間當中，我們是否願意一天又一天，讓自己的內心世界不斷發揮其正向張力？
2025年冬至那天，我們照例舉辦了一場活動，討論良善行止如何可以如何無遠弗屆，活動之中我看見只要是任何出於關懷的行動，人們都可以被引導往正向、鼓舞人心的方向改變，因為在我眼中，每一位參與該次小聚、專注於為他人行善的人，內心都帶著那份柔軟。
那是一種希望讓自己、也讓世界變得更美好的柔軟。
「良善會吸引良善，正所謂物以類聚……」一位年長的朋友如此評論。
自然，她也試圖替我回答我內心當中的疑問：
為什麼我總是如此幸運，能遇見那麼多善良的人？
在這些善良人群之間，顯而易見的我們會發現「慷慨」，確實可以成為一個人的標記，這樣的標記對於那種生命裡面最迫切的問題已經變成「我什麼時候會離世或者安息」的人，尤其舉足輕重。
坦白說，在我服務於這世上最需要幫助的人士的旅程當中，經常回眸一見便是如此這般認真的態度。正因為人類的生命有限，我們在生命當中的種種追尋不論在身、心、靈各種方面，才或者得以透過他人的張力及加持，而有著不朽的可能。當不朽進入我們的世界觀時，死亡本身或許便不過只是回家、或是脫去包覆靈魂的外殼。也因此，當我面對一些德高望重的長者時，總能察覺到他們的決心，那種要讓世界變得更好、也要讓自己的內在狀態更加溫和可親、甚至是把這個棒子交替下去的決心，而正是在這樣的情境之下，當我聽見有人以催促卻摻雜著他人也許感受不到的溫暖語氣，勸說他人加入我們為了把溫暖帶到海外而進行的旅程時，我並未插話，而是在小雨輕輕遍灑大地之後的陽光探頭、光線側寫般流入餐廳時，開始清理清理周遭環境，一邊聽著，一邊嘗試從那心態已經不同於我們的前輩的不同角度，來看待事情，從而想像自己如何能夠更加睿智。
「請準備好！2026 年 2 月 1 日你們要來參加一場聚會，接著請在 2026 年2 月 5 日到 13 日，和我們一起前往峇里島，用不一樣的視角去理解這個地球村。」前輩說得振振有辭，彷彿不得與之爭辯般地嚴肅，而這樣帶著急迫感的語態，如今的我不但並不具備，甚至可能在早先亦不完全擁有；事實上，我很懷疑自己是否曾經迫切要求別人必須踏上關懷他人之途，又或者我是已經入魂於此事之上，於是並未感到自己的咄咄逼人?!
相對於這樣的前輩的言語模式，有人則評論：
「為什麼不去找那些年長、富裕、能把錢揮霍或投資在你海外人道計畫上的商業人士呢？」
然而對於提升那些在物資條件極度匱乏地帶人們的生活水平一事，我從未把金錢視為解方，其主因是金錢固然重要，但更重要的是激發整個社群勇於接受挑戰、以及突破現況的決心。另一方面，像我們這樣出自於相對先進國家與地區的人士，若認為貧窮國家的貧困問題能完全靠巨額財富解決，或許正是工業主義、資本主義與科技進步所帶來的狹隘，而上述這些種種，早已經由科學證實無法解決源於人類內心的空洞與無感。
因此，從另一個角度來看，人們前往經濟條件甚為匱乏的地方，假若並不只是為了觀光而是為了他人的福祉而前行，則更造究或者我們每個人都可師法的學習曲線：
「服務學習這樣的概念在台灣其實早在一段時間前，就由像我這樣的教育界人士引介進入我們的社會。伸出援手最珍貴之處，在於為我們所有人提供一個更遠大的未來，讓大家能彼此學習、相互師法。」劉校長如此說道。
小聚過程當中，劉校長的另一半則描述了他們還是大專生時期的相識過程。與因為看到一張臉上有刺青的海報而被吸引、進而加入跨校服務團體的劉校長大不相同的是，校長夫人當初是希望能為原鄉居民幫上一點忙。在述說他們如何更為熟識彼此時，校長夫人言及：
「他進入這個跨校的服務性質社團時間比我晚，而我在團體裡的輩份比他高，雖然年齡上我比他小，因為我們來自於不同的大專院校。那時候，我先生是個內向的人，住在台灣中南部。身為他在團體裡面的先進，我感到有責任照顧當時顯得孤僻的他，所以會多關心他一些。」
校長夫人描述萬事萬物時的語氣十分柔和，連她的笑聲都像聖誕節的鈴聲般清脆。奇妙的是，這對夫妻後來也成了印尼校長短暫訪台時的接待者，而我們在2026年寒天時前往印尼，則又是印尼校長權充我們接待方面事宜的種種安排，人與人之間的交流哪是一朝一夕可以交待清楚呀……
然而，究竟是什麼觸發了劉校長的轉變，使他一生不斷帶領著義務工作者，與團隊成員一次又一次、毫不停歇地伸出溫暖的雙手，撫慰著人間的悲苦？劉校長曾服務於北市的不同公立高中職等學校，今天的他永遠總是那位慷慨請客、為像我這樣在助人經驗上遠不如他與妻子成熟的人買單的人，而引介我給這位校長，以及後續的種種合作，則又是令人無限感動的未完成。
若一定要回答「人如何因助人而改變」這個問題，也許我們得把視角移回餐廳的場景，那個前輩正在勸說他人一同前往海外進行一趟溫馨之旅的場景。因為在日常實踐中體會到助人的益處，這位長者深知只要用心付出，人就能變得更加溫柔、隨和，所以話語從簡單的問侯到不簡單的說服。而這一切，正發生在新竹縣尖石鄉，一個劉校長與另一半數十年前曾經出隊服務過的地方；往尖石鄉蜿蜒的道路綿延不斷，而原住民的祖靈以及他們後代子孫獨特的幽默感，交織出濃厚的好客精神。
是日，當離開都會區前往尖石的當下，基於種種原因，我其實並不知道自己要去的地方是哪裡，我甚至以為我們要去某個山莊露營。車程中，我們因為車裡人們此起彼落的每一個笑話而笑得闔不攏嘴。當車子穿越雲霧繚繞的地形時，我感覺自己彷彿來到另一個處所，宛如遼闊的非洲大地，野生動物躲在灌木叢後四處遊走。與非洲不同的是，此刻我在自己土生土長的寶島，即便通往山頂的道路全部都是鋪設完成的柏油路，但當身為我們司機的一位友人、一位弟兄，因路況而必須在同一條路途之上不斷前行、倒退、再倒退、再前行時，同時，我們有前車必須跟隨、但偶爾卻因前車速度飛快我們追之不及時，我清楚想起就在 2025 年，我造訪東非山區一所條件極為困窘的學校時，司機朋友這位我們已經透過當地校長及家族而相識多年的黑人弟兄和我，不得不雙雙下車推車，只為讓卡在斜坡裂縫中的輪胎脫困，然而我一個女流之輩實在沒有太大可能得以助得了一臂之力；直到一位騎著摩托車路過的當地人看見我們的困境，伸出援手，我們才得以解圍。
我也想起那些在東非深山中行駛，而前面有機車引路的日子……機車速度並不十分快，但要追上機車，在根本沒有柏油路可尋的山區，亦非易事。
「不要跟他們說話！他們會把我們生吞活剝！」記憶猶新的是一名非洲當地黑膚色女子曾對她的同伴用她們的言語呼喊，而司機後來替我翻譯時說：
「該處過於偏遠，當地人可能從未見過像妳這樣的外國人。所以Hope妳可以想像得到，妳的到來，或者任何一個外國人的到來，如果在當地知識水平高一些的人的心目中，有多麼珍貴。」
他說的沒錯。當地人不認膚色，因為所有比他們白的人都是「白人」，一個在他們的言語當中，代表「受過良好教育、有好的教養的人」，而我時時想著，不知自己是否擔得起那一句尊稱……
在非洲深山裡面記得當我們抵達那所偏遠地區的學校時，我的心境如前來迎接我們的老老少少村民般，神色自若。那是一所我從未造訪過的學校，教堂是全校學生與周邊社群家長唯一的聚集場所。校長指著教室裡充當地板的泥土，幾乎要落淚，感嘆自己被調任到這所新設公立學校後的困境，畢竟，他是從一個擁有數千名學生的大校，來到這個連七十名學生都不到、雨季時沒有修建完善的屋頂還會漏水，學生們必須在教室泥濘的地板中上課的小小公校。
「不，」我鼓勵他說，「你仍然是公僕，你並沒有被政府遺忘。這些看似挫折的種種，其實代表您就像過去與我共事的那些人一樣將向上提升。我可以向你保證，只要你一切行事正直，如同每次我的來訪都看得見你的努力般繼續直行，那麼就會直行終有路，總會柳暗花明，是以，透過我們的合作，您將引領此地社區與學生群，邁向此地村落發展的下一個嶄新層次喲。」
是否在每一種原住民文化當中，雖然人們的行徑略有不同，卻又像那日我們在尖石看到的舞台表演般，如此和諧、正向，彷彿受到某種保護而免於毀壞？在那位東非校長的例子當中，經過數天深入而冗長的沙盤推演及討論後，校長正氣凜然地告訴我：
「Hope老師，我已經完完全全明白妳所跟我說的這一切的一切，因為與妳的討論我看到無數的可能以及全新的契機，我一定會堅強起來把學校治理好，我會把這所學校當作我和我妻子的孩子，認認真真把這個學校裡的每一個學生培育起來，而在此地留下我的事蹟，那種這所學校因為我這個當校長的，像其他妳駐足過的學校一樣越來越好的事蹟，使這所學校也變得家喻戶曉，和Hope妳所協助過的其他任何一所學校以及旁邊的社區一樣。」
我微笑著說：
「等您如其他校長和校內同仁從谷底攀爬向上時，我會一如既往站在幕後。當您和其他校長與教育界人士更加功成名就之時，那是屬於您們的成功，不是 Hope 的成功，您知道的。」
了解我向來喜於低調行事，這位來自東非的校長和我一同大笑起來。而今在尖石，站在這個同為東非般的山地鄉，但又截然不同的地方，我也開始了關於尖石鄉的探索。我和一群美好的人士們應當地「公主」之邀而一同來訪。於此同時，同行上山之友人或弟兄姊妹中，女士們美麗動人，時時笑容以對，男士們則溫文有禮，總是隨時給予協助。
我是否從那些在世界各地偏遠地區協助像那位校長一樣的人身上，獲得了勇氣與膽識？或許答案可以是肯定的，因為當我看見萬物實乃一體，我明白當我能在海外服務經濟條件極度匱乏、每人每天生活在一美元以下的眾多社區及學校多所時，我也能用略有不同、卻始終鼓舞人心、耐心且善良的方式，幫助自己國家裡或者渴望與我的路程一同學習、或者交流的人士甚至物種。
當我與那些位居尖石的泰雅族居民相處時，我所思考的議題是什麼？我必須說，我深受這些原鄉人士外向且歡樂的天性所啟發，舉凡引領我們上山的當地公主穿著白色羽絨衣與高跟鞋，在其彈奏吉他的姪子之伴奏和演唱聲中，大方於坐在他們所經營的餐廳裡面用餐的我們面前，偏偏起舞；稍晚，不同年齡層的當地人士則齊聚在他們上帝的殿堂之中，在宏偉的教堂裡跳舞、歌唱、演奏樂器；教堂屋頂呈三角形結構，與我曾造訪的東非內陸其中一間教堂形成鮮明對比，只是在東非的教堂，牆面缺了一側，地面也沒有磁磚。
當時在東非我望著那個一邊沒有牆的教堂，聽見的不只窗外的風聲，還有當地代表發言的家長會長的心聲：
「我們需要大量經費，敬請給予我們重建這座教堂所需要的經費。」
這位看起來二十多歲的男性家長會會長說。由於當地人早婚，他已有好幾個孩子，且都已入學。
顯然，在我初初開始這樣的國際旅程時，若有人這樣告知我他們的難處，我或許會照單全收、滿足他們在經濟上的需求。但如今，我的做法可能多多少少在看到人們的潛力無限後，而有所不同。
「如果現在任何人，包括我，給了你們一大筆錢，」我說道，「那其實是在傷害你們。你們知道為什麼嗎？」
看著聽眾在他與我之間來回看來看去，不想消費他人的我，開始說出一段自己的歷程，但在說這段歷程之前，我請教了他們幾個問題。
「有外國人曾經到您們這裡來過嗎?」 台下所有的人，皮膚黝黑，全部一起搖頭。
「您們可曾想過我為何要來呢?」 再次地，大家一起搖頭。
「其實我很感謝自己經歷過的一些事情，成為第一個到您們這裡來的外國人。那這些是什麼事呢? 其中一個是我的右耳自幼完全失聰。和一般人想像的不一樣的，是早先，我必須用其他的方式來彌補這個先天上的障礙；今天，我則透過英語這個你們其中之一的官方語言來順利地與您們大家溝通。
試想，如果我小時候因為這個缺陷，被告知只能向他人乞求憐憫、善意與關注，而我也真的因為如此相信而這麼做了，今天的我會成為什麼樣子呢？
會不會造成我連踏上你們土地的意志力都沒有，更不可能相信自己能獨立申請並配置財務，前往知名學府深造呢?
但這一連串歷程，使得曾在那所世界頂尖大學鑽研教育相關知識的我，把那樣的歷程視為服務更多物種與人群的門票。再者，如果當年在申請各大學之前，我不斷告訴自己需要這樣那樣，特別是向他人索求金錢、學業與心理支持，那麼今天，我不可能自稱為那所用西方視角訓練我看待世界與人類的大學的畢業生。從這兩個人生故事裡面看來，我一方面回應了您們想更了解我的期待值，也同時回答了這位家長所提的疑問：
我相信，我們每個人都能掌握生命中某些事物的方向，而那份掌握的力量也許不是金錢或者金流。當然，我並非強調教育是唯一途徑，更重要的，或許是人的自由意志，以及他或她如何在一生中如何藉由教化的力量，運用這份自由意志。」
在東非，到來現場的聽眾們禮貌而愉悅地鼓掌，而我心想，這番鼓舞人心的回答彷彿天成，正如一位參與夥伴在我們那場劉校長與他摯愛的妻子連袂出席，在我與眾人無巧不巧趕赴尖石鄉前分享了他們的故事的聚會裡：
「我感覺我們好像認識彼此很久很久了。」
這當然是真的。尤其當我看見尖石這片土地上，那些跛了腳卻自在行走的狗，顯然受到當地人們的長期保護而和善可親時；又或者，當長者們用滿滿心意與愛心準備料理；再或者，當地人士總是請我們這些外來是客者多帶些無農藥的高麗菜回去；以及，教堂裡的人們以最好的禮儀迎接四方來客，包括為我們於室內生火等等。那座名為「鎮西堡教會」的地方，甚至已成為當地的觀光景點。而當在地人與我們一同圍坐、共享他們準備的食物時，我感覺我們就是一個圍繞著那晚因大雨而未能點燃營火的大家庭，那營火讓我想起自己曾到過的東非偏遠之境，在那樣的地帶，火堆總是為了烤羊或在荒野中烹煮而燃起。
「Hope 老師，當你搭飛機時，從機窗往下看，能看見我們這裡嗎？」一位非洲偏遠山區的老師曾這樣問我。
我的回答則是：「在我答覆您之前，您可否先告訴我，在這裡沒有水可以拔下雞毛的情況下，您們是怎麼用那麼多細小的木枝編織陷阱，抓到你們即將烹煮的那隻雞，又是怎樣把它熬煮起來的？」
全部的人在聽到我們的對話時都笑了，包括那些坐在一旁仰望星空、聆聽我們交談的當地人。
一如往常，我覺得自己不過是在與各地而來的弟兄姊妹交流想法、共享笑聲；而確實，無論走到哪裡，人人都成了我的弟兄姊妹。
走筆至此，二○二六年將於台灣中部舉辦我們小聚第一季活動的主場前輩說及：
「昨天下午我跑了大半圈我們這裡最好的名店，要給大家訂美味可口的點心及餐食。」
我們是在國際間及台灣社會的角落進行服務工作，是把自己幻化成有能力的人以給予他人溫暖，真的需要這些美食來暖化我們的心性嗎? 挽謝前輩的同時，我卻非常感動於這種雖然仍未抵達我們所服務的國際社區當地，卻祝福、愛心、熱力滿滿的可敬之人。
想起那天在尖石，按照早睡早起的習慣在半夜歷經天搖地動的地震，仍舊沉沉睡去，且於清晨起身後，在民宿一旁的山野步道逕自行走；清晨的雲霧像給大地披上一襲薄紗，走著走著，今年入冬第一次有必要在深山溫度個位數計算的地區，加一件人造仿羽絨填充物外套的我，仍是在身體微微發熱後將外套脫下拿在手中，一襲無袖上衣緩步在山間小徑中行走，聆聽鳥語花香、遠眺山巒和高空所型塑的動人美景。爾後在鎮西堡教會的「愛宴」時間，當所有人拿著碗筷享受當地人辛勞而熱情地準備的中餐時，一位個子150公分上下的長者走到我面前，用她明亮而深遂的雙眼看著我，並且開口說到：
「妳今早是否在山路上行走?」
我微笑請教她：
「您是開著小卡車上山的人嗎?」
她微笑點頭。
晨間山中沓無人煙，行走間並未遇到任何人，僅有一台中、小型卡車緩緩駛去……而這位長者，這位輪廓沉遂的女性，竟然貌似我那已故的非洲媽媽，那位將我收為女兒，視為己出的當地望族前輩……我們如何說起生命的故事，而這些故事又如何可能完全無關呢?!
於東非，在那樣與尖石鄉有點不大相同的山區裡，我也習慣如此行走，品嚐晨間時光的靜心與和大自然間的對話，是時，長頸鹿和斑馬或者羚羊總在遠處與我相互對望，偶有行走一、兩個小時趕赴學校上課的學生與我相迎，當晨曦與露水劃成一氣呵成的弦樂合鳴時。
我的心中總有說不出的感動，而我的言語之間也總有訴不完的尊重，在這個世界上許許多多人總是感到自己千瘡百孔、為人所負、被人所欺、無人可愛、不討人喜歡的同時，我卻有這樣平實而自在的存在，直到我再次挽謝名車真的來到我的生活之中，直到我可以一而再、再而三推辭不同的工作邀約，而希望將心力投注在這些於我而言的、有意義的職志之上時。
很多人問我：「為什麼一定要進行利他與慈愛的動作?」
我的思緒會飄回到一位當時在課堂裡面對生命與前途感到茫然，卻由於十年左右下來不斷在我的國內外服務場景出現的學生，對我的評價之上。她在我們所舉辦的溫馨聚會裡面是如此說明的：
「我們在英語系裡面修課，Hope老師的教法就是很不一樣，不一樣到當時的我真想衝去跟這名奇怪的教授說，可不可以像其他老師那樣上課就好?!因為她每一次、每一次上課哦，一定要談服務人群，一定要談慈善待人……」
現在，當我望著這樣的學生已經愈來愈成熟，愈來愈懂事，愈來愈照顧公婆，愈來愈孝順父母，愈來愈知足感恩，我會流下感動的淚水，然後自己安然地想著：
「怎麼我就沒有隨身攜帶一條浴巾或者手帕來拭淚的習慣呢?」
拭淚，就因為感動及震撼永遠說不完……
因為沒有任何一個人知道自己的故事，可以被什麼樣的人，在什麼樣的地方，繼續以什麼樣的方式如何承接下去，尤其，如果那份故事的重量是某種內心深處的觸動及溫和光火的延續時，所以我其實很想告訴所有那些對於服務工作感到沉重、甚至語重心長的人「放輕鬆一點」，真的，或許事情沒有我們想像的嚴重，因為生命自有其出路的同時，我們有了在服務道途上的學習，其實是對於自己的深度釋放，一如我可以輕而易舉把自己的單側聽損拿來舉例，但是過去的我，也許無法如此。而如此種種，總是令我想起自己在成為一位空姊前的訓練階段，那時候的自己並沒有眼下內心世界的富足與自在，對於外在壓力的來源也無法如今日般較能隨心所欲掌控，所以時時處在因訓練課程密集而極度疲倦、煩燥的狀態之中，當時的我仍然沒有經過訓練，不知道世上許許多多知識可以透過研議而取得，而是封閉在自己的內心世界裡面。
不過，當時的我作了一個爾後我所閱讀的書籍中，時常探討能夠讓人勇於突破困境的動作：
「關懷他人」。
我對所有的同期進行關懷，與這些當時的同期與我們的下一期共約一百人，是在近萬人次的甄選當中脫穎而出的準空服人員，時常噓寒問暖，投以關切之情；
我也對主管進行關懷；
我還在開始飛行後對乘客進行關懷，關懷到我會主動、自願清理洗手間，讓別的同行空服人員休息。
吵雜的機艙使我這種在文獻上顯示的「單側聽損之人怕吵雜」的事實，更為突顯，因為那樣的聲音放在我們這種單側聽損的人士的聽覺系統裡面，是一種擴大的音量，但我卻一反常態沒有倦意地穿梭在乘客之間，當別人用完點心或者飲料，我會主動詢問他們：
「還要不要再來一點?」
這種在行為模式上與其他空勤服務者所表現的反差，使我在飛行生涯中常常接獲乘客的讚美，但現在回想起來，我相信自己僅僅是運用那樣的工作場域，讓自己開始進行自己內在的轉化罷了；轉化至今，也許成為許許多多在教育場景中與我合作的夥伴所看到的那樣：
「可以用最平靜的方式，不叫囂或者發怒，而讓一群又一群叛逆中的學生們安然學習。」
我不知道劉校長為何會在我們的聚會裡面提及：
「我們在教育界裡面服務，很少碰到像Hope這樣的老師」，所指何意，但我始終相信自己的一切的一切，本就來自虛空，更要回返虛空，而在這樣的來回之間能與如此之多良善的人士和物種互動，甚至是那種極為喜樂的互動，實在是我身而為人至高無尚的榮幸。
而我實在非常抱歉，我總是要笑得上氣不接下氣、總是要邊說邊感動到聲淚俱下—畢竟在我生命歷程裡面歷來的感動實在讓我動容而富足，幸福而安好!!!
2026 First Quarter Gathering
Enchanting
Non-stoppable Melodies
Venue Facilities:
·
Hot and cold water dispenser (you may prepare your own tea, coffee,
etc.)
·
Television (HDMI connection available for presentations)
On-site Donation:
Collecting supplies for communities where the
average daily income and expenses per person are under USD 1.
Donations include a number of used but still
functional laptops and mobile phones.
To join us via GOOGLE MEET: https://meet.google.com/odm-uwki-jga
When I read about people like Gandhi and
Martin Luther King, I no doubt would notice how peaceful they were when they’re
still in this world from others’ descriptions. Great people are very peaceful,
it seems, and they do not react to things negatively immediate. That kind of
serenity also extends to their lives, according to different descriptions of
such people from different books: they never yelled, shouted, nor showed their
angered even under strong attacks. Their soft-spoken, yet powerfully courageous
voices have reminded us in magnificent ways that once we put the others ahead
of us, once those scopes are bigger and bigger, that caring attitude, we, too,
can be as great as such people.
The only question is, out of all the time we
have had here on this planet Earth, do we want to be more and more advanced in
our mindset each and every day?
On the day of Winter Solstice, when an activity
of ours was held to discuss about the kindness we can extend to people outside
our social circles, I saw how people could be altered towards encouragingly
positive directions due to their loving gestures to the others, for in my eyes,
each and every person participating the event focusing on doing good to the
others has that kind of softness in them that they want to make both themselves
and the world a better place.
“Kindred spirits meet altogether,” an elderly
friend comments when she is trying to answer a question I raise for myself: why
am I often that fortunate to meet people who are very kind?
Generosity, indeed, can be something marking
the profiles of an individual whose most threatening question is “When will I
have to ‘rest in peace’?” During my journey of serving the most needed, I can
witness this sort of seriousness frequently, for it is due to our mortality as
human beings that our quests in life have become immortal. Once immortality
comes into our recognition of our worldview, DEATH itself is no more than going
home or shedding a shell covering our soul. Such would be the reason when I am
face to face with some elderly, respected friends of mine, I notice their
determination in making, often not necessarily the world a better place only,
but also their inward situations more amiable. This is exactly the case when I
heard the words of persuading the others to participate in our journeys held
for the purposes of spreading warmth overseas with such urging tones, I would
not intervene the conversation. Instead, I began to clean the surrounding
environment, still listening, to look at things from a higher, more mature
perspective, imagining myself to be much wiser through aging.
“Get ready, please! You need to meet us for a
gathering on Feb. 1, 2026. Then, join us for the journey to Bali Island for the
understanding of the global community from Feb. 5 to 13.” This sort of
resolution made with the kind of urgency would be something that cannot really
be found in me nowadays.
“Why?! You should be approaching prosperous,
older generations of businessmen who have the kind of cash to be squandered or
invested into your humanitarian projects overseas.” One person commented, yet I
have never looked at cash as the resolution, for to give the financially
deprived communities money may be of importance, what is more important is to
strike the potentials of the entire communities for their future wellbeing. On
the other hand, for people like us, to think about a problem like poverty in a
poor nation can be handled entirely by great fortunes may be the slightness
brought by industrialism, capitalism, and modernism: all of them have been
scientifically proven to be failing to solve the problems stemming from the
voids inside our minds.
Hence, it is doubtless that, based on one
perspective of looking at people’s actions to go into somewhere more
financially deprived not merely for the purpose of sightseeing but also for the
learning curves we all need. “Learning through serving the others would be
something introduced into our society in Taiwan some time ago by people like
myself. The precious part of giving people a hand is to offer all of us a
grander future which we can all learn from.” Remarked Principal Liu.
Carried on, Mrs. Liu, Principal Liu’s wife,
depicted the ways she and Principal Liu knew each other when they were merely
college students. Unlike Principal Liu who saw a poster with a person of tattooed
face and was attracted by it, Mrs. Liu went into the same voluntary group when
she was a college student to just help out. “I was a senior to my husband the
moment he went inside this intercollegiate extracurricular activity group
although I was age-wise, younger than him, as we earned our degrees from
different colleges. Back then, my husband was an introvert living in another
part of Taiwan. As a senior to him, I felt that need to care for him.” The
tones and ways Mrs. Liu describe every object are quite soft-spoken; even her
laughter is similar to that of ringing bells of Christmas. Magically, this
couple would be the ones hosting the Indonesian principal, Mr. Tur, when he
briefly visited Taiwan once.
Yet, what triggered Principal Liu’s change
that he began to lead such voluntary groups extending their loving hands
through himself and his team members, again and again, non-stop, for his entire
life despite of the fact he had held former positions in different schools? Today
when we meet Principal Liu, he’s ALWAYS the person who is generous enough to
pay for food and beverages for all these others like me, far more inexperienced
than him or his wife in terms of helping the needed. If I MUST answer this
question of how people can be changed through assisting the others, perhaps we
have to shift our angle to another setting where another elderly friend of mine
was persuading the others to visit overseas with me, for after realizing the
benefits of helping the others through daily practices, this elderly person
knows well how possible people can be more tender and easygoing just by serving
the others while the whole situation took place somewhere Principal Liu and his
wife used to serve decades ago, Jian-Shi, where the winding roads, the spirits
of the aboriginal people, and their unique sense of humor marking their
hospitability mingle.
Unaware of where I was visiting that day
while leaving the urban setting which I currently am involved in, at first, I
did not know the place I was to visit. Along the car drive, all of us were
laughing very hardly due to each and every joke we produced. When our vehicle
traverses terrains covered by mists, I feel I am at another place identical to
the vast land of Africa where wildlife roam, only those animals, at present,
are hiding behind the bushes, and unlike those unpaved, dirt roads taking me to
places in east Africa where foreigners are not seen, here in my homeland, even
roads to the top of the mountains are paved. Here, when our driver friend needs
to drive back and forth, on the same road, due to road conditions, I can
clearly recall that even just this year, in 2025, when I visited a pathetic
school in east Africa, my driver friend and I had to come outside our vehicle
to push it in order to save the tire stuck in the cleft of a slope. Unable to
budge the car, we appeared to be helpless until a local travelled with his motorbike
from another direction saw our predicament and gave us a hand.
“Do not talk to them! They would eat us
alive!” One woman shouted to this other female our driver was inquiring the
directions from. He translated what they’re saying to each other later, stating
that the place is so remote that the locals must have not seen any foreigners,
or MU-SOON-GUs before. I remember my heart was very light even after we arrived
at the school at the remote region, a school which I had never visited before,
with its church the only gathering area of the entire pupils of the school plus
their parents from the communities surrounding such as a school. Pointing at
the dirt acting as floor of the classrooms, the Principal was on the brink of
crying, lamenting the dire condition of this new school he was asked to be
transferred to, from a huge campus boasting hundreds of students to this tiny
one with the classroom roofs leaking water during the rainy seasons holding not
even 70 students.
“No,” I said, encouraging him. “You are a
public servant still. You are not forgotten by your government. This seemingly
setback is literally a setup for you to climb high, like those working with me
in the past. I can assure you nothing bad will happen because you are worthy
praising for your righteousness in handling everything properly whenever I
visit and I promise you that through our collaboration, I will see you guide
people in your communities and the pupils to the next levels of their life!”
Is it in every aboriginal culture, people
behave slightly different and yet with such harmony that shields them from
destructions, they are positive? In the case of that east African Principal,
after our long discussions for several days, he told me,
“I understand what you have told me about. I
will be strong. I will make this school my child. I will leave my legacy here
because the school is going to be greater and greater due to me.”
“Of course.” I smiled. “By the time when you
climb up from the bottom, I will only be behind the scenes. When you become
successful, it is your success, not that of Hope.” Knowing I enjoy playing low
key, this principal from east Africa laughs out loud with me. Now, in Jian Shi,
standing here at a place similar yet different from that of east Africa, I,
too, began my own investigations once I had arrived with a bunch of wonderful
souls, with the ladies pretty and the gentlemen gentle enough to always be of
our assistances. Have I gotten my boldness, courage or whatever you can name
from my experiences of assisting people like that Principal in the remote
regions of the developing nations in the world? Perhaps every answer is a
positive one when I see all things are one, that by the time I can serve the
financially deprived overseas, I may help the men and women wishing to learn
from me in my own nation via angles slightly different from the other educators
but always inspirational, patient, and kind.
The questions I have asked when I am with
those aborigines? I must state I have been inspired by their outgoing, merry
nature leading their princess to dance elegantly in front of us on her high
heels while dressing in white, their groups of people from all age groups in
their temple, their God’s house, to dance, sing, and play musical instruments
inside their formidable church, also with the roof constructed like two sides
of a triangle on the top, quite a contrast to one of the churches in the
interior of east Africa where I had visited, with one side of their walls gone
and the ground without tiles.
“We need a lot of money here. Please give us
the money we need.” A representative from that region told me. He looked no
more than 25 years of age; since they often get married soon, his children are
many and they’re already going to school. Obviously, when I first began helping
the needed, when people told me something like this, I would cater their needs.
Today, however, I practice things quite differently.
“If anyone, including me, bestow on you a big
fortune at this current stage,” I noted, “it would be to harm you. Do you know
why?”
Seeing my audience look at him and me back
and forth, I began to describe something I feel comfortable enough to talk
about now.
“You see, my right ear is completely deaf. Unlike
what people imagine, I have been using my other talents to cover this loss when
I was young, not to mention that, today, we’re able to communicate with each
other successfully through my English ability matching with one of your
official languages. Imagine that when I was a little girl, I was told that
based on this defect, I should be begging the others for mercy, kindness,
attention and so on, and others have done the same likewise, what would I have
become today? Perhaps I would not muster that willpower to even come to your
land, nor would I believe that I could single-handed apply for and manage my
own finance for further education at University of Oxford, a world-class
university which I view as my ticket to serve more needed species and
humanities. Again, if before my applications to those various colleges and
universities back then were accepting me, I told myself that I needed to gather
this and that, specifically, asking the others for financial, academic, and
psychological supports, perhaps today, there is no way I could have pronounced myself
as a graduate from that particular university training me with such westernized
angles to look at things and people. Based on these two stories of my own life,
we can see that I am returning back to your requests of knowing me more, and I
am also answering that question of this parent, that I believe we can all
master certain things in life. Now, I am not stressing that education is the
only way, for what is more important may be a person’s free will and how s/he
utilizes this form of free will in his/her life.”
Politely and happily, the audience applauded
whereas I felt this inspirational answer was heavenly made, identical to the
fact one participant pointed out after our gathering where Principal Liu and
his beloved wife talked before my visit to the mountains in Taiwan.
“I feel we have known each and everyone for
such a long, long time.”
Of course it is true, especially when I see
the dogs with crippled legs walking there around the land of Jian Shi where
people must have protected them, the elderly prepare cuisines with such
dedications and love, always asking us outsiders to bring away more chemical
free cabbages, and those in the church with their best manners to welcome
visitors from everywhere because, called Jien Shi Bao Church, it has actually
become a tourist spot in the region. When everyone who’s local and not sat
together to eat the food the locals prepare, I feel we are a big family
circling the bonfire never lit the evening we arrived there due to the rain
shower, but a simple reflection of the places so remote I have been to that
bonfire is always set for the purposes of barbequing lambs or cooking in the
wilderness.
“Teacher Hope, can you tell me when you are
on board of an aircraft, are you able to see us from the windows on the
airplanes here where we are?” A teacher in the remote mountains of Africa used
to ask me.
My reply was “Before I answer your question,
can you please let me know how it is possible a trap woven by so many tiny
wooden branches can be made to catch that chicken you are about to cook here
where there’s no water to clean the feather of that poor bird?”
Then all of us laugh, including those sitting
there to watch the starlit night sky with the two of us talking, exchanging
ideas.
As usual, I feel I am only exchanging ideas
and laughing with my brothers and sisters here and there; then, indeed here and
there, everywhere I go, everyone becomes my brother or sister.
At this point, a respected senior who will
host the main venue of an event in central Taiwan in 2026 remarked:
“Yesterday afternoon, I went around
most of the best well-known shops here, just to order delicious snacks and
meals for everyone.”
We work in service on an international
scale—we transform ourselves into capable individuals in order to bring warmth
to others. Do we truly need these delicacies to warm our own hearts? While
politely declining the senior’s kindness, I was nonetheless deeply moved by
this warmth and loveliness—so full of blessings, love, and heartfelt
energy—even though we have not yet arrived at the international communities we
serve.
This brought back memories of that day in
Jianshi. Following my habit of sleeping early and rising early, I woke at dawn
and walked alone along a mountain trail near the guesthouse. The morning mist
draped the earth like a sheer veil. As I walked on, although it was the first
time this winter that I truly needed a thick coat, I still found myself warming
up slightly and taking it off to carry in my hand. I strolled slowly along the
mountain path, listening to birdsong, breathing in floral scents, gazing at
distant ridgelines and the moving beauty shaped by the sky above. Later, during
the “Love Feast” at Zhenxibao Church, as everyone held their bowls and
chopsticks, enjoying the lunch lovingly and laboriously prepared by the locals,
an elderly woman—about 150 centimeters tall—walked up to me. She looked at me
with her bright yet profound eyes and asked:
“Were you walking along the
mountain road this morning?”
Smiling, I asked her in return:
“Were you the one driving the small
pickup truck up the mountain?”
She smiled and nodded.
That morning, the mountains were devoid of
people. Along the way, I had not encountered anyone—only a medium-to-small
truck slowly driving past…
In East Africa, in mountain regions somewhat
different from these, I have long kept the same habit—walking like this,
savoring the stillness of early morning and the dialogue between myself and
nature. At such moments, giraffes, zebras, or antelopes would often gaze back
at me from afar. Occasionally, students walking one or two hours to reach
school would pass by me. When the dawn light and morning dew merged into a
seamless symphony of strings, time itself seemed to breathe.
My heart is always filled with an
indescribable sense of being moved, and my words are forever imbued with
unending respect. In a world where so many people feel broken, indebted to
others, deceived, unloved, or unlikable, I find myself existing in such a plain
yet free state of being. This continued until luxury cars truly entered my
life, until I could repeatedly and deliberately decline various job offers,
choosing instead to devote my energy to vocations that, to me, carry deep
meaning.
Many people ask me, “Why must one engage in
altruism and acts of compassion?”
My thoughts drift back to the evaluation once
given by a student who, years ago, felt lost about life and the future in the
classroom, yet over nearly a decade continued to encounter me in domestic and
international service settings. At one of our warm gatherings, she described it
this way:
“In our English-language courses,
Hope’s teaching style was just so different—so different that back then I
really wanted to rush up to this strange professor and say, ‘Could you please
just teach like everyone else?’ Because every single class, every single time,
she had to talk about serving others, had to talk about kindness and charity…”
Now, as I watch such students grow
increasingly mature, increasingly understanding, increasingly filial toward
their parents, and increasingly content and grateful, tears of emotion well up
in my eyes. And I calmly think to myself:
“Why don’t I have the habit of
carrying a towel or handkerchief to wipe away my tears?”
Because the emotions and the震撼—the profound inner impact—are never-ending…
Because no one can ever know how their own
story might be carried forward by whom, in what place—especially when the
weight of that story lies in a deep inner stirring and the continuation of a
gentle inner flame. I often recall my training period before becoming a flight
attendant. At that time, I did not yet possess the richness of my current inner
world, nor could I manage external pressures with the same ease. I was
constantly exhausted and irritable due to the intensity of the training. I had
not yet been trained to understand that so much knowledge in this world can be
acquired through study and inquiry; instead, I was enclosed within my own inner
world.
Yet even then, I took an action that many
books I later read would often describe as key to breaking through adversity:
“Caring for others.”
I cared for all my fellow trainees—nearly a
hundred of us across my cohort and the next, selected from tens of thousands of
applicants to become trainee cabin crew—constantly checking in on them and
showing concern.
I cared for my supervisors.
After I began flying, I cared for passengers
as well—so much so that I would voluntarily clean the lavatories so my fellow
crew members could rest.
The noisy cabin environment only magnified a
fact documented in medical literature—that those with unilateral hearing loss
are sensitive to noise—because such sounds are amplified within our auditory
system. Yet, contrary to expectation, I moved tirelessly among the passengers.
When someone finished their snack or drink, I would actively ask:
“Would you like a little more?”
This contrast in behavior compared to other
cabin crew often brought me praise from passengers throughout my flying career.
But looking back now, I believe I was simply using that workplace as a field
for my own inner transformation. A transformation that continues to this
day—perhaps becoming what many of my partners in educational settings observe:
“Someone who can, in the calmest
way—without shouting or anger—guide wave after wave of rebellious students into
peaceful learning.”
I do not know why Principal Liu mentioned
during one of our gatherings:
“In the education field, it’s rare
to encounter a teacher like Hope.”
I am not sure what he meant by that. But I have
always believed that everything about me comes from emptiness and must return
to emptiness. And within that coming and going, to be able to interact with so
many people and species—sometimes in states of profound joy—is truly the
highest honor of my existence as a human being.
And I must sincerely apologize that I so
often laugh until I can hardly catch my breath, or speak while being moved to
tears—after all, the countless moments of emotion throughout my life have made
me deeply touched, richly fulfilled, and peacefully happy.
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