This obscure poem by Minnie Haskins was made famous by King George VI when he read it out during a Christmas broadcast to Britain in 1939. It comforted many during the second world war. But it is of course the God of hope in the darkest and most uncertain times this poem speaks of that makes the words so special, not that human royalty read it out. 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. 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 yea...