The Gate of the Year

The New Year is ringing in with a bang, quite literally. For the last half an hour or so it seems as if every corner of our neighbourhood has been bouncing off with crackling, booming, popping fireworks. I don't believe it is strictly legal, but it is a fun way to bring in 2013.

As a kid, getting ready for the first days of school with blank notebooks, fresh pencils, new clothes, always put a little thrill in my heart. It's the same with New Year's. Clean, fresh, pure, unmarred days lie ahead. New beginnings are always a treat.

This year, I am reminded of the promise of the Gospel. Christ came, lived, taught, died, so that our sins would be forgiven and we could have eternal life in heaven, when we submit to Christ. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, our slates are wiped clean. A new beginning through belief in Christ.

The ultimate fresh start.

This morning, the first thing I saw on Facebook, was an excerpt of a poem my friend, Holly, posted:

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.”

I love the picture of heading into the New Year hands clasped tightly with God's. We can face anything if we hold fast to the promises of Christ and allow God to guide us through the year in its entirety - the good, the bad, the ugly, the very ugly - He will walk with us through it all.

I love the magic of the internet and the power of wikipedia.  I was able to find the full poem, called God Knows, but also known by The Gate of the Year, written by Minnie Louise Haskins in 1908.

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.^[1]

My very favorite part is "So heart be still:/What need our little life/Our human life to know,/if God hath comprehension?"

Indeed.

Happy New Year!

1. ^ The Rotarian Oct 1940. Vol. 57, No. 4. Rotary International. ISSN 0035-838X