The Millennium

By TAD BARTIMUS

Set aside all the hype and hoopla, the prophesies of doom and the fiddling-while-Rome-burns predictions, and we are left with a rising sun on yet another day of living as the Christian world marks the dawning of the year 2000.

For Jews, it's the middle of the year 5762. The official calendars for Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and followers of many other religions also are much older, which means this Jan. 1 isn't of any exceptional spiritual consequence to them.

But because we inhabit a world currently dominated by Western thought and theology, Y2K is a global big deal. For months we've been bombarded with statistics on how many billions of dollars were being spent trying to keep water running, banks solvent, electricity humming and airplanes flying. Experts predicted most everything would work, but there would be glitches.

So what else is new? Last week the TV blew up in a thunderstorm. Life is not predictable. Trying to make it so is impossible. I've done what I've been told is Y2K prudent: I've stockpiled extra water, filled the car with gas and bought some additional canned food, flashlight batteries and propane for the barbecue.

Beyond that, I figure if a Y2K crisis lasts more than two weeks we'll all have to pitch in together to solve the problem, so why hide in the basement and hoard tuna fish? I've refused to waste time worrying about the unknown. Instead, as the Christmas holidays have counted down to the dawn of this new millennium I've become preoccupied with its symbolic potential to wipe the world's slate clean.

What if warring factions in Chechnya decided to stop fighting? What if China released its dissidents? What if totalitarian regimes declared themselves democratic? What if all nuclear nations disarmed? As John Lennon said, "Imagine."

Humans being what they are, we will probably go on doing in January what we did in December. But if we can't effect change on a global scale, we can honor the new millennium in small, personal ways by recommitting to random acts of kindness.

Don't just step over that empty can, reach down and pitch it into the trash. Don't wait for friends to ask for help, volunteer when you see an opportunity. Look for the good and not the bad. There are plenty of mistakes for all of us to share; dwelling on them only makes life seem harder and less rewarding.

Yes, the memo could have been spelled perfectly. Yes, the order should have gone out yesterday. Yes, I know it's Aunt Bertha's birthday and her card is still sitting on my desk. Is my world going to cave in because I didn't check off every single item on my over-loaded to-do list? I think not. I would like to meet every deadline but I know I won't. Along the way I hope I'll also make time for some serendipity; not all good deeds are planned.

Affirmations and homilies tend to go in and out of vogue, but some truths are universal and constant. We all know that within us lies the capacity to do great things – one day at a time. These early months of the new millennium offer fresh opportunities to put past mistakes away with old calendars, to set out into the future with renewed optimism and commitment to what's noble, right and true.

That's what we tell our children and our grandchildren to do. Why should we expect less of ourselves? Happy New Year!

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