Mike’s Mellow Moment – 08 January 2017

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.

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

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.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.

Such beautiful and appropriate words to start 2017 from the poem, written in 1908 and privately published in 1912; part of a collection titled The Desert. King George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire. The poem was brought to his attention by his wife, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

As we head into another year the drums of war beat loudly once more, but as always there are signs of peace, abundance and hope all around, especially in Syria (at last) and the thawing of relations between the incoming US President and Putin.

As we hold hands for our first Mellow Moment of 2017 let’s focus on the positive and visualise a much more fair, equal and peaceful society where no one lives on the street, no one cries out for food and no one suffers the unspeakable violence and abuse that has plagued our world for so long. Together we can change things for the better. This will be a better year…we just have to make it happen one day and one step at a time.

Pattern photograph designed by Bedneyimages – Freepik.com