I have a dear friend whose first child was born right after his beloved mother died. After this confluence of miracle and loss, my friend felt a desire to have some kind of sacred place to go, or some ritual to perform, in order to sort through all the emotion. My friend was a Catholic by upbringing, but couldn't stomach returning to the church as an adult. ("I can't buy it anymore," he said, "knowing what I know.") Of course, he'd be embarrassed to become a Hindu or a Buddhist or something wacky like that. So what could he do? As he told me, "You don't want to go cherry-picking a religion."

我有个亲密的朋友，是他母亲的头一胎，而他亲爱的母亲却在生产中过世，他则顺利出生。经历奇迹与失落的交集后，我的朋友渴望前往某种圣地，或执行某种仪式，藉以整理自己的感情。我的朋友生来是天主教徒，成年之后却无法忍受去教会（“了解自己知道的事后，”他说“让我再也无法认同。”）当然，成为印度教徒或佛教徒对他来说是尴尬古怪的事。因此他能做什么？他告诉我说：“谁都不想随便挑个宗教去信。”

Which is a sentiment I completely respect except for the fact that I totally disagree. I think you have every right to cherry-pick when it comes to moving your spirit and finding peace in God. I think you are free to search for any metaphor whatsoever which will take you across the worldly divide whenever you need to be transported or comforted. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's the history of mankind's search for holiness. If humanity never evolved in its exploration of the divine, a lot of us would still be worshipping golden Egyptian statues of cats. And this evolution of religious thinking does involve a fair bit of cherry-picking. You take whatever works from wherever you can find it, and you keep moving toward the light.

我完全尊重他的观点，只不过我并不完全同意。我认为你有权去挑选任何触动你的心灵、在神当中找到平静的东西。我认为在你需要慰藉之时，你有自由追求带自己跨越世间分水岭的任何隐喻。这没啥好难为情。这是人类寻求神圣的历史。倘若人类未曾在探求神灵中进化，我们许多人至今还在祭拜古埃及的金猫雕像。此种宗教思维确实涉及挑选。你从自己能找到的任何地方挑选任何著作，持续朝光的方向移动。

The Hopi Indians thought that the world's religions each contained one spiritual thread, and that these threads are always seeking each other, wanting to join. When all the threads are finally woven together they will form a rope that will pull us out of this dark cycle of history and into the next realm. More contemporarily, the Dalai Lama has repeated the same idea, assuring his Western students repeatedly that they needn't become Tibetan Buddhists in order to be his pupils. He welcomes them to take whatever ideas they like out of Tibetan Buddhism and integrate these ideas into their own religious practices. Even in the most unlikely and conservative of places, you can find sometimes this glimmering idea that God might be bigger than our limited religious doctrines have taught us. In 1954, Pope Pius XI, of all people, sent some Vatican delegates on a trip to Libya with these written instructions: "Do NOT think that you are going among Infidels. Muslims attain salvation, too. The ways of Providence are infinite."

霍皮族（Hopi）印第安人认为世界上每种宗教都包含一条心灵线，这些线一直在找寻彼此，汇合在一起。这些线最终编织成一条绳索，将我们拉出黑暗的历史循环，进入下一个空间。近代的达赖喇嘛重述过同样的观念，屡次向他的西方弟子担保，想成为他的学生无须成为西藏佛教徒。他欢迎他们从西藏佛教撷取自己喜欢的观念，将这些观念与自己的宗教活动相结合。即使在最不可能、最因循守旧的地方，有时也能发现这个闪闪发光的观念：神可能大过有限的宗教教条所给予的教导。1954年，教宗派厄斯十一世（PiuXI）派遣梵蒂冈代表前往利比亚，带去书面说明：“切勿以为汝等前往异教徒之国。穆斯林人亦能得救。上天之路无边无际。”

But doesn't that make sense? That the infinite would be, indeed . . . infinite? That even the most holy amongst us would only be able to see scattered pieces of the eternal picture at any given time? And that maybe if we could collect those pieces and compare them, a story about God would begin to emerge that resembles and includes everyone? And isn't our individual longing for transcendence all just part of this larger human search for divinity? Don't we each have the right to not stop seeking until we get as close to the source of wonder as possible? Even if it means coming to India and kissing trees in the moonlight for a while?

这难道不成道理？苍穹莫不是无边无际？即使最虔诚之人也只能在某一特定时刻看见片段的永恒图画？或许如能搜集这些片段加以比较，一个有关神的故事即可慢慢成形，相似于每个人，并将每个人包含在内？每个人对于超越的渴望，难道不都只是广大人类寻求神性的一部分？人人不都有权利不断追寻，直到尽可能接近神奇之源？即使意味着前来印度，在月光中亲吻树林片刻？

That's me in the corner, in other words. That's me in the spotlight. Choosing my religion. Eat, Pray, Love

换言之，这是在角落里的我。在聚光灯下的我。我选择自己的宗教。