Search This Blog

Wednesday 31 December 2014

The old year ends, the new begins

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.

George VI famously quoted that piece in his 1939 Christmas broadcast, the first Christmas of the war, and it remains the most popular quote for the start of each new year.  I like it for it does not speak of New Year Resolutions but of confidently facing whatever the year will bring.

Realistically speaking most adults know that New Year Resolutions have little chance of success but there is (for me at least) a sense of quiet excitement at the start of each year.  Resolutions may be ineffective but it is good to use 31st December to draw a line under anything that has gone badly in the year and to look forward gladly to whatever next year may bring.


May you be blessed in 2015.

2 comments:

  1. I've never heard that quote before. I LOVE it! I also like your view, to draw a line under anything that has gone badly and look forward... that's how I feel about it too. There is an excitement at the start of each year. It's just a date, a virtually insignificant passing but there's always something special about a beginning and about newness. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, lovely post. Happy New Year to you x

    ReplyDelete