
Last week, I wrote about taking it easy during the month of January in order to renew our minds, bodies, and souls for the coming year (“The January Yuck“). It’s still January, and while I continue to “rest in the Lord” in my recliner in front of the TV watching the Food Network, allow me to share a couple of potentially transformative quotations.
Nigerian pastor TemitOpe Ibraham advises us to “Treat every day like it’s a new year because it is.” Great advice, even if the words suspiciously remind me of the overused adage, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” But the sentiment is probably sincere.
In the same vein, one of my favorite philosophers, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” I can appreciate Ralph’s optimism. If we can genuinely approach every single day (in January) with the attitude that it will be better than yesterday, even if yesterday was absolutely glorious, those winter blues should keep their distance.
More practical advice is offered by Food Network chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli: “Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken.” Alex G speaks to my heart—I can even smell the baking poultry.
Now, let’s get a serious. I read a devotional a couple of years ago that continues to rattle around in my head every January. In “Strong Into the Night,” the author shares the following story:
In September 1939, Great Britain allied with France and several other alarmed countries in declaring war on Hitler’s Germany, which had invaded Poland in its intended march toward global domination. By the end of the year, anxieties throughout England remained on high alert; everyone was fearful of bombing and invasion.
When King George VI sat down before two large microphones to make his Christmas Day speech to the nation, he was dressed in his official uniform as Admiral of the Fleet. With so many parts of the world facing an uncertain future, his goal was to reassure the people that their nation was prepared and able and their cause right and just.
‘A new year is at hand,’ the king said. ‘We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall all be. If it brings us continued struggle, we shall remain undaunted.’
Then the king concluded his speech with these words from Minnie Louise Haskins’ poem, “God Knows,” popularly titled “The Gate of the Year”—
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.’
The fears of our nation today are not so different from those of England in 1939, and King George’s words still ring true. We don’t know what the year will bring. Maybe it will be peace, and maybe it will be continued struggle, but in either case, as we stand at the gate of the year, we can remain undaunted if, even in the darkness, we put our hands into the hand of God.
“He who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.” Proverbs 29:25
If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us Help keep us ad-free by donating here.
Substack: American Free News Network Substack
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA