3rd January 2025

Here we are – it’s January again! As I get older January seems to come around more quickly each year.

January takes its name from the Roman god Janus, always pictured as having two faces looking in opposite directions – one, symbolically, towards the past and one towards the future. Very appropriate as we stand on the threshold of another year. Janus had a wider significance in Roman mythology – he also symbolised doorways and gates and his image was often placed in such places.

That brings to mind the well-known poem by Minnie Louise Haskins – “The Gate of the Year”, made prominent by being quoted by King George VI in his Christmas broadcast in 1939. It begins:

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”.

Of course we cannot know what 2025 holds in store for us – we may have plans, hopes, even fears about the next twelve months, but in our prayers we ask that God will guide us and ‘hold our hand’ through whatever lies ahead.

But then Janus looked back as well as forward, so in our prayers this January we also thank God for the blessings of the last year and for the comfort he has brought for any troubles and difficulties we may have experienced.

Happy New Year!

David T Roberts