The Unknown Way

[BarbTherese]

Called in at our little second hand shop near my home this afternoon and found a plaque that I did not hestitate to buy - $AU5 and its is very rare that I will buy on a first sighting. It is brand new and beautifully made. It's not quoting Scripture nor the CCC. It doesn't come from a saint in the actual wording anyway. And it doesn't strike me as particularly poetic per se - author unknown and I did do a Google without any luck :

[u][b]The Unknown Way[/b][/u]

I said to the man
that stood at the gate
of the year -
"Give me a light,
that I may tread safely
in the unknown."
And he said to me -
"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."

Edited June 29, 2012 by BarbaraTherese

[BarbTherese]

Found it - good old Google.......and it is very poetic......good old wikipedia
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gate_of_the_Year"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gate_of_the_Year[/url]
[b]God Knows[/b]
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.

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

[i]God knows. His will[/i]
[i]Is best. The stretch of years[/i]
[i]Which wind ahead, so dim[/i]
[i]To our imperfect vision,[/i]
[i]Are clear to God. Our fears[/i]
[i]Are premature; In Him,[/i]
[i]All time hath full provision.[/i]

[i]Then rest: until[/i]
[i]God moves to lift the veil[/i]
[i]From our impatient eyes,[/i]
[i]When, as the sweeter features[/i]
[i]Of Life’s stern face we hail,[/i]
[i]Fair beyond all surmise[/i]
[i]God’s thought around His creatures[/i]
[i]Our mind shall fill.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gate_of_the_Year#cite_note-0"][size="2"][1][/size][/url][/sup][/i]


[i][b]"The Gate of the Year"[/b] is the popular name given to a poem by [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_Louise_Haskins"]Minnie Louise Haskins[/url]. The title given to it by the author was [b]"God Knows"[/b]. She studied and then taught at the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_School_of_Economics"]London School of Economics[/url] in the first half of the twentieth century.[/i]
[i]The poem, published in 1908, was part of a collection titled [i]The Desert[/i]. It caught the public attention and the popular imagination when [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother"]Queen Elizabeth[/url] handed a copy to her husband, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI_of_the_United_Kingdom"]King George VI[/url], and he quoted it in his [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Christmas_Message"]1939 Christmas broadcast[/url] to the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire"]British Empire[/url].[/i]
[i]The poem was widely acclaimed as inspirational, reaching its first mass audience in the early days of the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World_War"]Second World War[/url]. Its words remained a source of comfort to the Queen for the rest of her life, and she had its words engraved on brass plaques and fixed to the gates of the King George VI Memorial Chapel at [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle"]Windsor Castle[/url], where the King was interred. The Queen Mother was also buried here in 2002, and the words of "The Gate of the Year" were read out at her state funeral.[/i]
[i]The poem was included in the closing moments of the 1940 [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer"]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[/url]/[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Borzage"]Frank Borzage[/url] film [i][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mortal_Storm"]The Mortal Storm[/url][/i], starring [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sullavan"]Margaret Sullavan[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Stewart"]Jimmy Stewart[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Young_(actor)"]Robert Young[/url].[/i]

[AccountDeleted]

Thanks for this Barb. I had never heard of it and it is very inspirational and lovely. What a great find!

[BarbTherese]

It is inspirational, isn't it - and has quite a history and I am grateful for the finding. I need now to find its location here in this house. It is now on its third location 'visit' since purchasing yesterday afternoon. I have this theory with anything for the house that it has its' place. I just need to find it. Consequently, it can wander here and there in the house using Bostik Blu Tak as a temporary measure, until a place strikes me as "this is where it belongs" and there it finds permanent residence.
I must add that it is a work of art in its own right without the poem - and this first caught my eye. It is oval shaped (12" x 8") and basically painted a warm dark brown with tasteful dark gold scrolling around the edges and with dark gold lettering and looks almost like gold leaf, altho I dont think that it is - but with that effect - quite a find at $5 and seems brand new - I can't find signs of use anywhere. I am very thankful.
It is my "good finds" days. I called in the day before at Pauline Book and Media looking for a picture or statue (cheap of course ) of Our Lady and St Joseph and I had particular images in mind. Everything was too expensive and so I spoke with Sister and she came up with exactly what I had in mind but not framed - $2ea. So I bought them and then the frames in our $2 shop near me - and I had their place in mind already and there they now reside. Good find days!

'nuther edit! Bit of a shame the next line of the poem isn't on the plaque "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." but I think probably this is because there wasn't sufficient space on the plaque. All times and seasons have their reasons!

Edited June 30, 2012 by BarbaraTherese

[Spem in alium]

Oh...that is so beautiful. I visit charity shops fairly regularly, and I love coming across items that are just so unexpected and inspiring. Thank you for sharing