Gate of the Year
Illustration
by Dr. Russell F. Metcalfe, Jr.

One of the great In-Between Times in this century was during World War II, when the Nazis were bombing London every night, and the outcome of the war was very much unknown. At the end of each year the British sovereign would address his people over radio, and during those dark days King George VI, the father of the present queen, strengthened his people with this saying that has since become well known:

“I said to the man who stands at the Gate of the Year, ‘Give me light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied, ‘Step into the darkness, put your hand into the hand of God, and that will be to you better than a light, and safer than a known way.’”

by Dr. Russell F. Metcalfe, Jr.