but things I do know....

Like the most of you,

I was raised among people who knew.

who were certain.

They did not reason or investigate.

They had no doubts.

They believed that they had the truth.

In their creed there was no guess — no perhaps.

They had a revelation from their blood.

They knew the beginning and the end of things.

no questions asked.

no options were given.

no free will was granted.

Then I asked myself the question:

how can they be so sure 

of their thoughts,

likes and dislikes,

should's and must not's.

I do not deny.

I do not know .

but I do not believe they know.

I believe that the natural is supreme.

that from the infinite chain no link can be lost or broken.

that there is no supernatural power that can answer prayer.

no power that worship can persuade or change.

Is there a truth?
I do not know.
Is there a fair belief?
I do not know.

but things I do know,

that neither hope,

nor fear, belief, nor denial,

can change the fact.

It is as it is, and it will be as it must be.

we can be as honest as we are ignorant.

If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known,

we must say that we do not know.

we can tell the truth, and we can enjoy the blessed freedom that the brave have won.

we can destroy the monsters of superstition, the hissing snakes of ignorance and fear.

we can drive from our minds the frightful things that tear and wound with beak and fang.

we can civilize our fellow-beings

we can fill our lives with generous deeds, with loving words, with art and song, and all the ecstasies of love.

we can flood our years with sunshine

with the divine climate of kindness,

and

we can drain to the last drop the golden cup of joy.