Give Me Strength!

This is my prayer to thee, my Lord: Strike!
Strike at the root of penury in my heart!

Give me the strength to lightly bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor,
or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength,
-to Thy will with love.

-Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. He was a poet, mystic, author, playwright, songwriter, artist, educator, freedom fighter, and an intellectual stalwart who shaped the destiny of an entire subcontinent.

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