In my hometown, there's a common saying: "When the time comes, take responsibility; if there's no rice, cook sweet potato soup." It's an optimistic, go-with-the-flow saying, roughly equivalent to "things will work themselves out" or "when soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it."
Having heard this saying so often in my hometown, it's deeply ingrained in my mind. After leaving, whenever I encounter obstacles or difficulties, this saying quietly resurfaces: "That's right, take responsibility when the time comes; if there's no rice, cook sweet potato soup—what's the big deal?" Thinking this way calms me down, and I can naturally overcome obstacles and difficulties.
In my childhood, I often heard my father say this, and once I couldn't help but ask him, "If there's no rice, we'll make sweet potato soup. But what if there aren't even any sweet potatoes left?" My father habitually patted the back of my head and laughed, "Silly boy! People say there's always a way out. It's impossible for the year to be so bad that even sweet potatoes won't grow!"
Indeed, it was true. Although we children who grew up in the fields experienced many windstorms, floods, droughts, and even large-scale pest infestations, sweet potatoes were probably a crop that was never harmed. As long as they were planted, there was never a bad harvest. Therefore, farmers in our countryside would set aside a small plot of land to grow sweet potatoes. They would pick the leaves to eat as vegetables, and at harvest time, they would pile the sweet potatoes under the bed at home for emergencies. During my childhood, my bed was piled high with sweet potatoes all year round. Every day when my mother lit the fire to cook, she would grab two and throw them into the ashes at the bottom of the stove. When the rice was cooked, the hot and fragrant stewed sweet potatoes would also be ready.
Even during the most intense years of the Sino-Japanese War and the years of fleeing air raids, there was never a year of poor sweet potato harvest. In my past experience, the year was never truly so bad that even sweet potatoes wouldn't grow, just as my father said. Extrapolating from this, we know that life has many setbacks, but as long as we persevere, there's always a way out.
Later, I learned even more that things like "take responsibility when the time comes, and if there's no rice, cook sweet potato soup"—the comfort in one's heart is more important than the actual hardships.
"Taking responsibility when the time comes" is not only wisdom distilled from the lives of Taiwanese farmers, but it also perfectly aligns with the spirit of "the present moment is the time" and "taking responsibility directly." If you can take responsibility in this moment, there's no need to worry about the future. Because at that moment, we would be taking responsibility in the same way. If you can't take responsibility now, worrying about the future will be useless and pointless.
There's also a saying in our countryside: "Be an ox, so you won't be afraid of not having a plow to pull." Translated into Mandarin, it means that as long as a person is willing to endure hardship, they shouldn't be afraid of not having a job or not being able to make a living. This is often used by elders to comfort and encourage young people who can't find work. If you're willing to put yourself in the position where you can take responsibility first, then what is there to be afraid of?
This saying is also very moving. In the countryside, oxen and horses are always symbols of the most arduous burdens, yet only they can pull the heaviest plows. Humans are the same; if we fear only our own inability to bear the burden, why fear the lack of sentient beings to save? Thinking this way, we can better understand the profound meaning of "To become a Buddha or a great elephant, first be a horse or ox for sentient beings."
"When the time comes, take responsibility; if there's no rice, cook sweet potato soup." We should also view things this way. When there's no rice and we must eat sweet potato soup, can we still be without complaint, appreciating the fragrance of sweet potatoes? That is true responsibility.
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