The Millennium - a time to await the Lord

The millennium industry is in full swing. Even though there is over a year to go (some experts would say "two years"), plans to celebrate the event are moving towards fruition. The Government has its Millennium Dome under construction and the entertainment industry is urging us to "book early" for local events. It is no wonder that the Christian community, including our own Church of England, feels that it ought to "do" something to remind the world what actually did happen two thousand years ago to restart the calendar.

The media like to enlist the help of "experts" to add authority to their output on any subject. Earlier this year I read, in the so called "quality press" the result of historical research into celebrations at the first millennium. Much to the consternation of the pundits there were no records of special activity to be found. However, I was particularly struck by the comment of one expert that: "(it) seems to have been a time of awaiting the Lord".

It is easy to understand that the present age would find this surprising. The secular world loves action. We do not just prize activity but we expect people and organisations to be "proactive". We are told that the benefit of this is that it helps us to reach out to meet the needs of others. However, the less pleasant side of proactivity is that it can lead to nuisance calls, junk mail and "getting retaliation in first". The reason why people do it is because they don't know how else to find those who want to hear their message. As is said of advertising, half of it is wasted but no one knows which half!

God is different. God does know all of us. God is both infinite and personal. God leads those who are ready and those who are in need to those who can help. Our Lord, Jesus waits to be asked before He gives healing or enters heart and home. Therefore, we should trust the Lord to guide us. Instead of following the way of the world, we should mark millennium by doing something the world cannot do and await the Lord. That is far harder but far better than "doing something".

Paul Newman, 1998

Front Page | Home Page for individuals | Business Services Index | Site contents & internal links | Email the Author