Into the darkness

Under normal circumstances, this afternoon would have been our monthly Oasis Tea. Oasis is held in the Village Hall on the fourth Thursday of the month and is run jointly by the local Baptist, Anglican and Catholic churches. It's an opportunity for some of the more senior members of our community to come together, to enjoy conversation and an informal table-top quiz, to have a piece of cake and a cup of tea and take part in a short service - usually a prayer, Bible reading, a hymn and then a short talk on a given theme. This is sometimes followed by a simple craft.

Last year our theme was 'people who made a difference' and over the course of the year we looked at a number of individuals whose Christian faith had had a real impact on their lives - and through them, the lives of many others.

This year our theme is focused on artists, poets, authors and musicians - again, those whose Christian faith has influenced their work.

This afternoon it was to be my turn to lead the service and the title for this afternoon was 'Into the darkness'. I should just add that the titles are deliberately chosen so that no one has a clue as to what it's about.

Today's talk was going to be about Minnie Louise Haskins. I'm not going to tell you much about her here - as I may want to use this talk at some point in the future once we're able to meet together again safely. But Minnie Louise Haskins was a poet and she became widely known after King George VI read one of her poems as a part of his Christmas message in December 1939, in the very early days of WWII.

Popularly known as 'The Gate of the Year', the poem was named 'God knows' by the author. It was certainly relevant at that point in our history. It is also strikingly relevant in these days of coronavirus. The future is very uncertain. We are currently in lockdown and no one knows for how long. We can't see what the future holds. But God promises to lead us through the darkness. We might not know what the future holds - but God does.

You'll find the whole of the poem here, but the first verse says,

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.