Poetry

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.

Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield
but to my own strength.

Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.

Grant that I may not be a coward,
feeling Your mercy in my success alone;

But let me find the grasp of Your hand in my failure.

When I was a teenager, I loved poems, especially the above poem by Rabindranath Tagore.

Now, I realise how lonely the author’s battle is in this poem, compared to what you see written in the book of Psalms. I even thought the poem was slightly religious, as it hints of a God. But I was wrong.

In Tagore’s poem, human strength — one’s own strength — is exalted. It speaks of human pride, where we think we can do everything alone. The book of Psalms is a complete contrast to that.

We can’t do everything in life without allies.

No matter how strong you are, how much willpower you possess, our strength is not unlimited. If we keep on going on our own strength, not relying on anyone’s help, we are going to run out of strength eventually and crumble into pieces.