Many of you will have heard these words before:
“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.’”

Those words are the beginning words of a poem written in 1908  ~ 
just over 100 years ago  ~
by Minnie Louise Haskins, an American lecturer at the London School of Economics,
who wrote as a hobby.

For those of you with memories that may go back that far,
those words were included in King George V1 of England’s Christmas broadcast
at the beginning of the Second World War.
I can remember my Mother, who was born in England,
listening to other broadcasts when I was a boy.
“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.’”
Those words  ~
spoken at that dark time, in the midst of a dark beginning
into the dark unknown days that would follow  ~
were spoken to lift the hearts of a people
who were facing the darkness of uncertainty and fear.

“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,” the poet wrote,
‘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!'”

Those following words reminded those who heard them,
as surely as they remind us today,
that in putting our hand into the hand of God,
in entrusting our present and future to God’s care,
in believing that whatever may come we are not alone,
our faith in the God-who-is-with-us would be
“better than light and safer than a known way.”

Why can we say such a thing?  How can we believe such a thing?

We will soon be entering the season of Epihpany  ~  the season of light  ~
         a continuing reminder after the days of Christmas
                and the celebration of the birth of the One
                        who is “The light of the world”
                                that all of the gifts given at Christmas
                                        are gifts we carry with us into the near year:
Hope that stirs us,
Peace that quiets us,
Joy that fills us,
and Love that includes us.

It is walking in this Light ~ 
not light that shines on the path ahead of us
but light that shines within us …
the true light that gives light to everyone …
the inner light of the Love of God  ~
that is better than light  ~
the light of our own understanding, perhaps  ~
and safer than a known way.

“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.
God (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."

1.     As you enter the new year  ~  put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!
That’s the first important thing I want to say.

2.     And here’s a second:
as you stand at the gate of the year with your hand in the hand of God,
remember what this Christmas love means for you …
remember what this Christmas love says about you.

One of the most meaningful moments I experienced before Christmas
        was spent in this Sanctuary as Rainbows held its celebration service.
                Rainbows, as most of you will know, is a program offered by our church
                        to those who are dealing with family separation and divorce  ~
                                and sometimes for those grieving because of death  ~
                                        and it is offered to people of all ages, from children to adults.

The goal of Rainbows, the longing that it holds for those who attend,
        is that through talking and listening
                through peer support and the loving guidance of the facilitators,
                        the participants will move from a place of hurt, through healing, to hope.

And the struggle for many is their feeling of unworthiness:
parents who feel they have let their children down;
children who blame themselves for what has happened;
parents who are struggling to keep their family together
as they keep themselves together;
children who struggle with who to love and how to love;

people struggling to love themselves;
all of them just trying to find their way into the unknown.

During the celebration time two wonderful pieces of writing were read:
wonderful not only because of the affirmations they express
but wonderful also because of who read them:
two children who are moving from a place of hurt, through healing, to hope.

The healing that is expressed in these writings
is the healing that comes from knowing we are loved
and because we are, knowing that it is okay to love ourselves.
For when we love ourselves it becomes possible to truly love others.

How did Jesus put it?
“Love God … and love your neighbour as (you love) yourself.”
We can’t love others well, we can’t get our lives together,
if we don’t love ourselves.

How did Jesus put it?
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
We learn to do what is best for others
when we want for them what we want for ourselves:
things like love
   and respect
           and kindness
                   and generosity
                           and forgiveness
                                   and patience.

And we get to this place of self-love
when we discover the worth that we have
because, as the scriptures say, “God first loved us.”

Listen to what these children read.  They are powerful, moving words.
A little boy, 10 years old, read these words …

I’M THUMBODY
I am me.
There was only one of me created.
I was not cut out like a cookie from dough.
I am so special I have my own fingerprints,
my very own footprints, my very own face, my very own body.
I have my own thoughts, dreams, and feelings.
Other people may have different feelings from me.
It is O.K. not to agree with other people too.
I will make some mistakes and I will try to learn from them.
I will laugh at myself, but will not make fun of others.
I will have fun living inside my skin.
I have value.
I am important.
I am me.
I am special.

Listen to what these children read.  They are powerful, moving words.
A teenaged girl, 14 years old, read these words …

I CELEBRATE ME

I am worth celebrating. 
I am worth everything. 
I am unique. 
In the whole world there is only one of me. 
There is only one person with my talents, experience, and gifts.
No one may take my place.
I have immense potential to love, care, create, grow, sacrifice ~
if I believe in myself.

It doesn’t matter my age, or colour, or whether my parents loved me or not. (Maybe they wanted to but were unable.)

It doesn’t matter what I have been,
the things I’ve done,
mistakes I’ve made,
people I’ve hurt. 
I am forgiven.

I am accepted. 
I am okay. 
I am loved in spite of everything. 
So I love myself and nourish seeds within me.

I celebrate me. 
I begin now, start anew. 
I give myself a new birth today. 
I am me, and that’s all I need to be.

This is a new beginning. 
A new life given freely. 
So I celebrate the miracles, and I celebrate me.

Those are incredibly powerful words.
Powerful because all of us have been at a messed-up place.
Powerful because all of us have been someone we wish we had not been.
Powerful because all of us have made mistakes, or hurt someone,
or like fools have rushed in where angels fear to tread.

But all of us, by the grace of God, can be and have been forgiven.
And because of that forgiveness we don’t need to stay stuck:
stuck in a place of regret
    or hopelessness
    or unworthiness.

We are loved in spite of everything.
And that love means that we can begin now, start anew, have a new birth,
and be ready to embrace the miracles that are waiting to happen,
because, as a 10-year-old boy believes,
you have value …
you are important …
you are you …
you are special …
             because God says so.

For the lives we are called to live,
and the love we are called to live  ~
   a love that “always protects,
always trusts,
always hope,
always perseveres,”
a love that “never fails”
                        is also the love that God has for us:
                                a protecting, trusting, hopeful, persevering, never failing love.

So as you stand at the gate of the year,
uncertain perhaps as you face the unknown that lies out there,
put your hand into the hand of God
and know that your life matters to God;
and because it does, you can love yourself,
and because you can, you can love others, too;
and because you can, a miracle is possible:
the miracle of a transformed you.

3.     And here’s a final thing I want to say
begin to write the rest of the story of your life
on this clean page of the new year,
and write something beautiful.

A fourteen-year-old girl
read that night before Christmas at the Rainbows celebration …
It doesn’t matter what I have been,
the things I’ve done,
mistakes I’ve made,
people I’ve hurt. 
I am forgiven.

And because you are, you can.
You can, because you know God is with you.
You can, because you know you are loved
and because you are, you can love yourself.
And because you can, you can make your life
something beautiful for God and for others.

You can. 
Because by putting your hand into the hand of God
it is better than light and safer than a known way!

Yesterday was yesterday. 
Today is a new day worth living,
and worth living beautifully.

A fourteen-year-old girl
read that night before Christmas at the Rainbows celebration:
begin now …start anew … give yourself a new birth today.

You can.

One of my favourite sayings was written by William James.
He wrote: “To become, act as if.”

As you stand at the gate of the year, ready to step into it,
to become the person you want to be and you’d like others to be, act as if you are.

To become good, knowing that’s what you’d like to be, act as if you are.
To become kind, act as if you are.
To become forgiving, act as if you are.
To become loving, act as if you are.
To become patient, act as if you are.
             To become the best person you know you can be, act as if you are.

Don’t let anything prevent you from pursuing that goal.
Don’t let anyone get in the way of your reaching it.
You can.

And the day will come when you will no longer be acting the part.
The day will come when you will have become  ~  by God’s grace  ~ 
the person you want to be. 

And that, my friends, is a goal worth achieving
and a gate into a new year worth entering.

 

 

SOLI  DEO  GLORIA

 

 

I Corinthians 13:1-8a, 13; 14: