And 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 out 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.”
These are the opening lines of a poem written in 1908 by Minnie Louise Haskins. It perhaps became most well known when King George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast.
This is the time of year when we look back at what has happened in our own lives and in the wider world and so many things have happened this past year. Some good, some bad, some of them were expected, some unexpected. There were even a few that we never imagined would happen.
No one knows what challenges, opportunities and situations we will meet in 2017, and it’s better that way. All of us have plans for things we want to do in the coming year and it’s good that we do, many of those plans will probably happen although circumstances may see some of them altered or even cancelled. But there is no point in going into the New Year worrying about what might happen, that is the way to unhappiness and, depression. We must all aim to look forward an find the positives in the coming year. I know that’s not always easy, I have problems and concerns of my own at present but I believe they will be resolved eventually and I hope yours, if you have any, will be too.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year.
“So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.”