Pippa White
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.
This popular poem was quoted by King George VI in the 1939 Christmas broadcast, when we were already at war. Today, on New Year’s Eve, many of us will be contemplating the very real possibility of the next World War breaking out next year. Whilst it is unclear exactly what form this war will take, cyber, ground invasion, nuclear or other, this threat is very real. The papers have been reporting and, in my opinion, rightly, that concentrating our military attention on the Middle East threat has left us ill prepared for potential conflict with the East.
Today, we can contemplate Janus, the Roman god who represents beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces and presides over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace.
Looking back over the last year in which the Pandemic or Plandemic, whichever word one chooses, really took a hold, it is easy to see how far back the roots of our current discontent and predicament lie.
This predicament is the reason I have recently published two little books. One a prose poem for our times, called Integrity. It is a little obscure and mystical, and certainly not to everyone’s taste, but I wrote it in 2005 when I was contemplating such challenging times as these. I was writing the synopsis of a book called FEAR, and I think the words of Integrity were soothing when I was confronting my own fears about a future political and international situation over which I could and would not have any control.
The second little book is a short story How the Unicorn Found his Horn. This is part fairy tale and myth, part parable, of how a little horse who showed courage and loyalty at the Winter Solstice became a great legend.
As I contemplate the coming year, I am even more aware that we have so little control over the external circumstances of our lives, with so many restrictions, masks, vaccines, frustrations, inept politicians, terrifying media, and so on. I could go on, but my New Year’s Resolution this New Year’s Eve is simple:
Stop complaining, be kind, take control of the areas of life that I can, and encourage moral growth with cultivating stoicism, faith, trust, kindness, compassion, and courage. If this sounds like a moral soup, it is! It is also the only way that I can make sense of the world right now.
So I shall garden more, walk more, eat better, read proper books more, take time to look at the Christmas Roses now flowering in the garden, pray more, and take more heed of the words of St.Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
Sadly, it would appear that St. Francis was not the author of this piece which did not appear until 1912 in a French publication, called La Clochette (The Little Bell). Probably written by a French priest called Father Esther Bouquerel who established an organisation called The League of the Holy Mass. It was widely disseminated during both World Wars, and in difficult times, we can once again draw upon its wise words and compassionate message.
St. Francis did however write The Canticle of the Sun, with its wonderful incantations to the Sun and the Moon, and the elements of wind, water, fire and earth, very much in the Essene tradition.
So this year, I shall hope to emulate my Unicorn’s courage and loyalty, make compassion and gratitude my sword and my shield, and spend more time in contemplation and praise of our glorious universe with all its myriad gifts, for as long as we can enjoy it, every moment.
Life is full of serendipity and joy, and researching for this article, I found to my astonishment, that Miss Haskins (1875-1957) was born and brought up in the same county as I was! South Gloucestershire, in countryside that has inspired and informed all my writing. In fact the Great White Stag in my little Unicorn book, I actually saw near Thornbury, very close to where Minnie grew up!
When Miss Haskins was told that the King had quoted her poem, she is purported to have said to the Daily Telegraph: "I heard the quotation read in a summary of the speech. I thought the words sounded familiar and suddenly it dawned on me that they were out of my little book."
I shall let Minnie Haskins have the last word here. It would seem her words were not only prophetic but continue to give hope in the time of darkness, faith in the time of fear, and we must never forgot that as St. John says LOVE is the opposite of fear. The Unicorn is said in medieval iconography to represent the Risen Christ and what greater love hath any man than to give his life for another?
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
I wish you all a Happy, Courageous, and Lightful New Year as church bells ring in midnight tonight, we place our hand in the Hand of God and go forth into the unknown at the turn of the year.
New Year’s Eve, Gloucestershire, 2021.
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