In this elegant poem (which I originally sent in 2006!), Tagore refers to God as Father. However we call on God is a deeply personal matter so make this prayer your own. I think this is what the poet is encouraging us to do.
Our 4th of July is quiet right now. Tyler is giving the dog a bath. I cleaned the kitchen. I hear neither traffic nor fireworks, only bird calls. A day of health and abundance. I am grateful. May your day unfold beautifully and fearlessly. Let us tread gently on this beautiful earth for it is life.
Where The Mind Is Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, [Holy One], let my country awake.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, [Holy One], let my country awake.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
photograph: San Leandro, August 2018
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