Christmas in England, 1939

George VI, King of England (the one who is featured in the movie The King’s Speech) quoted (the portion in bold print) from the following poem in his Christmas speech to the British nation in December, 1939.

God Knows by Minnie Louise Haskins

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.

'Eleanor Roosevelt, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth in London, England, 10/23/1942' photo (c) 1942, The U.S. National Archives - license: http://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/
So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.
God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.
Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.

The photo is a 1942 picture of King George VI, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Queen Elizabeth, George’s wife.

One thought on “Christmas in England, 1939

  1. Pingback: The 4th Gift of Christmas at Wounded Knee Creek, 1891 | Semicolon

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