The moment at which the old millennium makes way for the new millennium is probably quite irrelevant. After all, the start of the current millennium was also a fairly arbitrary moment in time. Scientists, historians and philosophers cannot agree on the actual date of birth of the person Jesus. They generally do agree that 25 December of the year 0 probably wasn't the actual date. Time is, when seen from an inner point of view, quite irrelevant, as it exists only during the illusion of physical incarnation. Both the illusion and time are very real, but the reality behind the illusion is far greater than one is able to perceive with one's physical senses.

The heralding of the new millennium will pass, as every New Year also passes, according to the collective mindset of the then incarnated humanity. If the general expectation is one of apocalypse and a sufficient number of people feed this thought form, it will be so. Especially for those who hold these expectations. On the other hand there are many that do not subscribe to such paranoia connected with the advent of the year 2000. Those who understand, perhaps even dimly so, the power of thought, have absolutely no fear as to what the new millennium will bring. They probably also realise that the way one reacts to things that happen to one from the outside is a reflection of our inner state. Even if apocalyptic events were to occur, individuals with a positive attitude towards life would experience these events as necessary and would cheerfully carry the burden required of them.

There are others who believe our world is bereft of spirituality or in great spiritual need. If one really subscribes to our Act of Faith, one knows this is not so. However "bad" the world might appear, that what one experiences as bad lies beyond the understanding of how the Divine Plan works. When we say: "…that perfect justice rules the world…", we should learn to mean what we say. Surely the materialistic approach to life has had some lesson to bring to humanity. While it is still with us, it must surely be so that humanity has not yet completed this phase of its development.

I do believe, however, that an immense pressure has been placed on humanity over approximately the last ten years by the unseen world. The symptoms of these pressures can be seen in ever-increasing stress; the number of relatively young people who are suffering from severe, often terminal diseases such as cancer; the increase in the incidence of suicide; the polarisation of groups of people often leading to violent conflict. Why this pressure? It is said that when the Atlantean continent disappeared, it was inhabited by people of the fourth root race, people who had reached the epitome of development which was envisaged for this root race. The fifth root race has not yet reached these heights and is meant to reach even greater heights of development. The sixth root race is meant to appear in the near future (by which I mean the next few thousand years), also a process one can see happening around us. Whenever a new root race is to be started, the best qualities of all the races still in existence are requird; surely the eradication of racial barriers and the globalisation tendencies point to the beginnings of such a bundling of qualities.

Others again predict the coming of the Christ. Some even try and place a date or period to such a prediction. Anyone subscribing to the doctrine of The Liberal Catholic Church knows that the World Teacher does incarnate from time to time in order to restate the Truth in a way that befits the time and culture then prevalent. With all due respect, how can we, in our limited knowledge, know when the conditions are right for Him to incarnate? Is it important whether this happens in the near future or in the distant future? If we truly look forward to the coming of the Christ we should work on creating the environment which is required and stop fussing about when this (again arbitrary until it actually happens) moment is in time? These are strongly worded statements, but perhaps one should remember that Christ is also incarnate in our world at this very time in each and every one of us. It is part of our work to awaken this consciousness in us and to recognise it in every one of our fellow human beings.

Perhaps then we can also see that perfect justice does rule the world and be less judgmental of our fellowman. There are those who are ready to be vegetarian. Not because someone tells them so, nor because they think that it will enhance their spiritual growth. The reverse is true: Those who have advanced far enough spiritually will realise the obstacles in their way and adjust their behaviour to overcome them. They also know from experience what the effects of alcohol, smoking and drug taking have on their consciousness. These are the people who should be leading our church. They understand the behaviour of those who cannot or will not subscribe to this kind of discipline. They know that every path is a valid path and all will one day reach His feet, however far they stray.