100 Years Later...Still Profound

"The Gate of the Year"
by Minnie L. Haskins 1908

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!'

I first read these words in the front of Pamela Rosewell Moore's wonderful book, "Safer Than A Known Way." Since then I have often wondered who M.L. Haskins was...and so I finally decided to Google that phrase today. I was rewarded and discovered that Miss Haskins wrote these now-famous words 100 years ago in 1908.

And so, as we all stand at the gate of 2008, The Abbess bids you heed our sister's words: Go into the darkness. There's the rub, eh? We ask for light so that we may see the path ahead clearly. This should be a good thing to ask for, one would think. And yet the gate keeper bids us go into the darkness. Go. Not wait until there is sufficient light. Go.

Into the darkness, yes...but not alone. Never alone.

We are to put our hand into the hand of God. Go ahead, reach out into the darkness before you. There you will find God's hand reaching back to you ... his other hand already under your feet! You may still not be able to see where you're going, but that just won't matter quite so much....

May the knowledge that you are safely held by God be both comfort and guide as you Go With God, my fellow travelers.

Certainly these three words have been used well throughout history by people of faith ... I think that will be my blessing at the close of my posts in this important year of transition.

Go with God.