Gate of the Year

There are just some images or phrases that stick with you. I don't even remember reading this poem before tonight, but for years I've thought about "the man who stood at the gate of the year." I finally had to look up where it came from. Is it weird that I love how this phrase feels?

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 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
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

--Minnie Louise Haskins