You asked for it!
A grandfather should never be asked more than once! So, here is a picture of Christopher at Christmas.
King George VI – For the New Year
“Did I remember the Christmas speech by King George VI in 1939?.”
As I entered our sanctuary today, Gene Elliott asked if I was old enough to remember the Christmas speech by King George VI in 1939, looking into the darkness of a new year filled with war. I had to reply that I was not. She sat down and wrote out the quote. Here it is:
“The Gate of the Year”
“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 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
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention.”
… Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957), “The Desert” (c. 1908)
I found a blog site by Nancy J. Nordenson that summarized the history of the quote very well. If you do a Google search you will find much more!
- Haskins was an American lecturer at the London School of Economics. She wrote as a hobby. The quote is an excerpt from a poem she wrote called “The Gate of the Year” which was published in a volume called The Desert. The poem, which was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother, gained international attention when King George VI quoted the above excerpt in his famous Christmas message broadcast in 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War.
- It is engraved on bronze plaques on the entrance to the King George VI Memorial Chapel, Windsor, where they are both interred, and was read at the funeral service of the Queen Mother, held at Westminster Abbey on April 9, 2002.
Resolutions
There was a time I did the resolution thing — a list of “to do’s” for the coming year!
And I guess I still do — but mostly at a point when I realize I need to change a particular action. The big push for New Year’s to be the day of resolutions has waned.
But that does not mean I do not take inventory at this time of year. I’m in agreement with an email my wife received from Christian Women Today.
“Rather than centering your focus so much on what you are doing . . . ask God to help you get fresh insight on what you are becoming. . . Make your own “to be” list this week. Mine looks like this: Be thankful . . for little things; Be joyful . . by choice; Be patient . . deliberately; Be kind . . on purpose. . . As the being takes place, the doing will automatically happen.”
The week is done!
OK, its only Friday but I feel like this has been a long week. A good week, but a long week!
Originally I was to take off a few days while family were around. In the midst of this came the call to lead a funeral. In this case, and particularly for the sake of friends who called, I felt privileged to be asked to participate.
The extra time was not begrudged by our family! I was up and running in the morning when most of them were still in bed!! The family celebrations were great. 15 people sharing together food and fellowship on Wednesday. Then on Thursday they were all gone — back to their homes. By Thursday evening Jill and I confronted an empty house — and said it was time to get some rest.
Today the fog rolled in — seems so unusual in a time when -20 Celcius and cold winds are the norm! We left a little early for the funeral in Eston – a 45 minute ride away.
As we returned we plotted our supper meal – leftovers of turkey, salads, potato and gravy, cauliflower and pie. All heated on the stove and in the microwave in about 10 minutes time. Talk about fast food!! We relaxed for the evening and I will take a day off tomorrow!
Until then . . .
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