Millennium a time for pilgrimage of the spirit We know how to celebrate the major events in our lives and the key festivals of particular faiths such as Christmas, Easter Ramadan, Diwali, or Chanukah. But how do we treat an occasion so rare and remarkable as the eve and dawning of a millennium? Only one in 30 generations will live through such a time. For the next 1,000 years, we are it. But so far, truly inspirational ideas have been lacking. True, the dating of the millennium to Jan.1 in the year 2000 C.E. is arbitrary and, for some cultures or faiths, it's out of sync with calendar realities. Yet, it stands as a giant watershed for humanity. Just what that meaning is, however, and how it can best be discovered and expressed is still "up for grabs." How, for example, do you intend to approach and "bring in" this new 1,000 year phase of human development yourself? A survey made by the Angus Reid Group Inc. on Canadian attitudes and plans for Dec. 31, 1999, and Jan 1, 2000 (published Feb. 24,1998) found that most of us see the millennium as "a time for celebration and for serious reflection and setting priorities for the future." Asked to choose among these, 6 in 10 of us picked deep reflection and setting priorities over celebration, the poll said. Significantly, however, "few Canadians have made personal plans of their own to mark the millennium." That's why it's important to share with you a millennium vision that could kindle true transformation, not just of all of us as individuals, but also of communities, countries-and ultimately the world. This idea was not mine, but I endorse it completely and hope you will too. The story begins with Austin Repath, a retired humanities professor from Humber College, Toronto. Repath, an author and "former cynic," now calls himself "a post modern pilgrim." That's because in 1997, after reading a small book about a mediaval pilgrimge of 800 kilometers through northern Spain, known today as The Road to Santiago, he set out on the journey that changed his life. Repath did the walk in just over five weeks. He returned with a deep conviction that he and all of us can become "millennim pilgrims." In other words, as he hiked, he became almost obsessed with the ancient yet ever-new image or metaphor of each of us being a pilgrim and life itself being the pilgrimage. "Each of us is moving towards that moment, a moment that can be made sacred by what we bring to it in terms of personal change and commitment," Repath says. Right now we can begin to work on the kind of person we would like to be by 2000 and beyond. We can keep a daily or weekly record of our journey. It could lead to radical transformation. At the end of his 800-kilometer trek, Repath took a photo of himself in a raincoat gripping his pilgrim's staff. On return, he showed the shot to a friend of his, Anne McTaggart, a noted Toronto artist. ( I once wrote about her remarkable campaign to put a poster of Earth as seen from space in every classroom in the world) On seeing Repath's photo, McTaggart was so taken by the power of the symbolism she immediately painted a millennium pilgrim poster that is quickly becoming the logo for the millennium not just here but in the United States as well. She says: "I was completely consumed by the idea. This image is intended to help people prepare for the millennium eve; it's to assist them to ask key questions such as: What's really important to me as I go on, where am I going and what do I really want to give to others, how can I become more tolerant, more compasssionate?" As Repath puts it: "This is an aid to personal and societal change. If we just let commercial giants like Pepsi, Coke, or Nike take over the millennium event. we'll have missed a chance to make a significant shift in human consciousness." Joined by two other Torontonians, Marilyn Melville, a career consultant who specializes in midlife transitions, and Rita Patenaude, a specialist in ritual design, Repath and McTaggart have set up a Millennium Vigil website on the Internet where the world can "walk a ways with us towards the millennium." Together these four are now designing a 24-hour vigil for Toronto and othere cities for the millennium event. Anyone who wishes to attend is invited to join in a secular-styled, non-denomination, interfaith exploration/celebration at that time. It will consist of grieving and "finding closure" for our individual and collective past and then moving on to acknowledge the changes we want to make in our own lives and in our society. "We want to divest ourselves of what is no longer needed, to forgive others, and then to declare how we intend to move on, more aware, more human and humane," says Repath. World's Pilgrim: Poster is part of Toronto-based campaign to make the millennium a spiritual celebration. For more information about the Millennium Vigil project is visit their website. Aaustin Repath's book, The Waterbearer, is featured in The Book Store at Spiritual Endeavors.
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