At the Gate of the Year

One of my favorite poems to read around the beginning of the new year was written almost 100 years ago by Minnie Louise Haskins, the author of The Desert. It was made famous when
George VI quoted it at the end of a broadcast he made during one of the darkest hours for England in World War II.

At the Gate of the Year

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied,
'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention."

'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!' I just love that! I first saw those lines in the town newspaper that I used to write for (my hometown paper actually). We had an artist on staff, and she chose those lines to illustrate one year. I loved it so much that I made an enlargement of it for the bulletin board in my classroom.

It is my prayer that you will put your hand into the hand of God and find light and safety as you go your way in this new year.