Cogges Parish newsletter January 2000

From the newsletter ...

Millennium Resolutions?

Well, the Millennium is upon us and I do rather wonder if it's not similar to something I saw the other day -- 30,000 coming up on the car mileometer. Am I a better driver just because the mileage is now the other side of that line of 'noughts'? Obviously not because any change for the better is a result of something real happening in my life, be it experience gained, correction acknowledged, or learning applied. I wonder of this land of ours will be better in 2000? I think there is a huge ground-swell of desire and hope that this will be so, and yet there are also influences at work that would, in the long run, have the opposite effect. It is plain that the proper influence of Jesus Christ's teaching, and the general influence of the bible continues to decline. Amazingly few schoolchildren realise that '2000' is correctly 'AD2000' and that the AD bit stands for Anno Domini which means "Year of The Lord". We started counting from Jesus' birth. Just before Christmas we had a neat example of the conflict when Cliff Richard was slated by George Michael for his "heinous piece of music", the Lord's Prayer set to Auld Lang Syne. And for ages Radio 2 wouldn't play it, even though it sold 1/2m and reached No1, probably because it was too Christian to be 'PC'.

I think ordinary people who bought the single recognise that it is a prayer Jesus taught us and wants us to use as well as enjoying a great combination of words and music. Mind you, although Jesus represents to us a loving Father God, he represents him in his entirety. Not only did Jesus say "Come to me all who are heavy laden" he also said (as it were) "Stop that, and DON'T do it again!" Experience gained shows us that we are sometimes powerless to 'Stop that', and need help. It is then vital to apply what we have learned and ask God for help. He doesn't help automatically, you have to ask, and as you truly commit yourself into his care, the real things start happening, and change takes place. 2000 is just another date really. The real new start is with the Lord God and the freedom of his principles.

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