2022
The Gate of the Year
Listening to the first Christmas speech by our new king, Charles III, on Sunday, I was reminded of the words of his grandfather, King George VI, in his 1939 war time Christmas broadcast to the British Empire. He quoted the Gate of the Year poem by Minnie Louise Haskins, an apposite choice given the imminence of World War II, but words which speak to people in all of life’s difficult and dangerous situations across time.
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.
The ‘dark unknown’ pretty much sums up the prospects ahead, doesn’t it? The year that’s just gone, 2022, has been one of widespread discontent, disaster and international strife, serious climate change and economic hardship, to name but a few causes for deep concern. Add to that the personal experience of many – the loss of beloved friends and family, of homes and security, and it’s evident none of us are immune from the stresses of life in the 2020s.
As we approach 2023 and that troubling ‘unknown’ we all need to seek guidance and find anchors. I do sincerely trust you can find confidence to go forward in hope, the kind of confidence Haskins and King George VI found in their faith.
2022 – New beginnings
Scratching around trying to think of something new and original to say for the start of another year, it occurred to me that writers over the centuries must have penned apposite quotes. Sure enough, they have, and I feel I can do no better than share some of those most pertinent to scribblers everywhere.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.”
~ T.S. Eliot
“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one!”
~ Brad Paisley
“The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.”
~ Melody Beattie
“A new year. A fresh, clean start! It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! A day full of possibilities!
~ Bill Watterson
Wishing you courage, kindness, peace, and new opportunities.
