Sunday, March 07, 2010

Give me the courage to live

Give me the courage to live!
Really live—not merely exist.
Live dangerously,
Scorning risk!
Live honestly,
Daring the truth—
Particularly the truth of myself!
Live resiliently—
Ever changing, ever growing, ever adapting.
Enduring the pain of change
As though ’twere the travail of birth.
Give me the courage to live,
Give me the strength to be free
And endure the burden of freedom
And the loneliness of those without chains;
Let me not be trapped by success,
Nor by failure, nor pleasure, nor grief,
Nor malice, nor praise, nor remorse!
Give me the courage to go on!
Facing all that waits on the trail—
Going eagerly, joyously on,
And paying my way as I go,
Without anger or fear or regret
Taking what life gives,
Spending myself to the full,
Head high, spirit winged—
On . . . on . . . till the shadows draw close.
Then even when darkness shuts down,
And I go out alone, as I came,
Naked and blind as I came—
Even then, gracious God, hear my prayer:
Give me the courage to live!

~ by Howard Thurman (1899-1981)
I used this poem to conclude my hermeneutics paper tonight. Hope you find as much inspiration in Thurman's words as I did.

3 comments:

  1. Very inspiring, Adele! I love it. It encompasses so much desire and depth.

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  2. Adele! I saw your 10 Things on the LPM blog and I thought...I bet that's OUR Adele. Sure enough. Now I will have to subscribe to your blog. I hope life is an adventure for you and full of joy. Lots of love from Iowa,
    Loretta Bushlack
    rett.blogspot.com

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  3. Loretta, it's good to hear from you! Life's good indeed. I am moving to Indonesia this summer. Will blog about it soon... Hope things have warmed up in Iowa by now!

    Love from Taipei,
    Adele

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