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31 December 2024

The Gate of the Year

 


THE GATE OF THE YEAR

'God Knows'

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".
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.

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life's stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God's thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.

The first few lines of this poem are well known but the whole deserves reading.
Have a happy and blessed new year.

12 comments:

  1. I remember my grandmother quoting the beginning of this poem to me frequently so it is a favourite of mine. Thank you for the reminder. Margaret from New Zealand

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    1. As Angela says (below) it was used by George VI in the first Christmas King's Speech of the war and has remained popular ever since. But, as you say, just the first few lines.

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  2. Thank you for sharing all of Minnie Haskins poem. It is said that the young Princess Elizabeth read it in a magazine, and showed her mother, who then showed King George VI, and he decided to use it in his Christmas message.

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    1. I didn't know the Princess Elizabeth bit - thank you!

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  3. A lovely poem; thank you for sharing it.

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  4. My Gran had a beautifully illustrated version of this in a frame on her bedroom wall. When I stayed with her I used to lie and read it to myself in bed. Thanks for sharing this today. Catriona

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  5. Beautiful, Mary! And here is me wishing you a wonderful New Year!

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  6. So beautiful. Wishing you a wonderful and very happy 2025.

    God bless.

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