Thursday, March 17, 2011

Crosspost from Helen's blog: "What can be seen, is temporary; what can't be seen, is eternal"

Helen writes (in Chinese):

My adorable silly husband has sent me another love song. It seems ordinary at first glance, but it stirred up a multitude of thoughts and feelings. "It cannot be seen, it doesn't make a sound, you cannot touch my love, yet it's all around" -- what a simple, honest statement!

So many people think the things we can see are real, and that anything we can't see is imaginary. How can they not see that all the things that really matter in life are things that can't be seen? Our love for our family, romance, friendship, the emotions of our deepest heart, the feeling of happiness even when it ends in grief -- none of these can be seen.

I well remember once seeing a man interview a lot of rich, successful businessmen who had reached old age. The interviewer asked them what they regretted most looking back at their lives, and not one of them said they were sorry they hadn’t bought more fancy houses, or taken over more companies, or accumulated more shares of stock. They regretted that they had not spent more time with their families, that they hadn’t invested even a little time in love, that they hadn’t been able to experience what it was to be loved even a little bit…that kind of love, that kind of experience, how can the eye see that?

The Bible says, “what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. “ Truly a classic saying.

"WRITTEN IN MY HEART," by Lydia Salnikova

I only know
So many words
So you won’t hear my love
Put into verse

I do not draw
I cannot paint
So you won’t see my love
Up in a frame

(Chorus)
But I promise you this
For as long as I breathe
I’ll carry it inside of me
It may not be written in stone
It may not be written in the stars
But it’s written in my heart

It cannot be seen
It doesn’t make a sound
You cannot touch my love
Yet it’s all around

(Chorus)
And I promise you this
For as long as I breathe
I’ll carry it inside of me
It may not be written in stone
It may not be written in the stars
But it’s written in my heart

(Interlude)

(Chorus)
I promise you this
For as long as I breathe
I’ll carry it inside of me
It may not be written in stone
It may not be written in the stars
But it’s written in my heart
Note from Kenny: Please note that this is my translation of the post. "And why did the adorable silly very non-Chinese American husband do the translation instead of the fluent-in-English woman who wrote it to begin with?" I hear you cry. Well, because Ms. Salnikova wanted to know what the post said about her, and the fluent-in-English woman who wrote it to begin with...is sound asleep right now, in the middle of Shanghai's night.

If Helen wakes up tomorrow and decides the translation is too bad then I'll fix it. In the meantime, if you know Chinese you can read it for yourself by following the link at the top.

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