①Then one day, I met a girl, a wonderful girl, an army nurse, whose faith and stability were to change my whole life. ②As our acquaintance ripened into friendship, she discerned, behind a shell of gaiety, my recurring plateaus of depression. ③She said, "Stop knocking on closed doors. ④Keep up your beautiful music. ⑤I know your opportunity will come. ⑥You're trying too hard. ⑦Why don't you relax, and have you ever tried praying? "

⑧The idea was strange to me. ⑨It sounded too simple. ⑩Somehow, I had always operated on the premise that, if you wanted something in this world, you had to go out and get it for yourself.?Yet, sincerity and hard work had yielded only meager returns, and I was willing to try anything.?Experimentally, self-consciously, I cultivated the daily practice of prayer.?I said: God, show me the purpose for which you sent me to this world.?Help me to be of use to myself and to humanity.

?In the years to follow, the answers began to arrive, clear and satisfying beyond my most optimistic anticipation. ?One of the answers was Enchanted Hills, where my nurse friend and I have the privilege of seeing blind children come alive in God's out-of-doors.

stability [st??b?l?t?] n．穩(wěn)定性

acquaintance [??kwe?nt?ns] n．熟人

experimentally[?k?sper??ment?l?]ad．實(shí)際上，實(shí)驗(yàn)地

optimistic[??pt??m?st?k]a．樂(lè)觀的