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The Millennium-- A Spring Time for the Human Spirit by William L. Renfro Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled. That this Act may be cited as "The Third Millennium Jubilee Act." The Congress of these United States finds and declares: (1) Saturday, January 1, 2000 marks the dawn of the Third Millennium: (2) the governments and people of the world look to the next millennium with anticipation, expectation, hope, and confidence in the continuing progress of humankind: With these words the National Millennium "Commission" will be established by the 104th Congress. Draft legislation has been prepared that follows traditional celebratory commissions such as the Bicentennial Commission, the Constitution's Bicentennial and the Quincentennial of Columbus. This is what Congress will pass if no better idea is availablethe opportunity for a unique foresight effort to look ahead is at hand. It is a springtime for the human spirit, full of hope and promise. As with every spring there is the responsibility to make the most of the new opportunity. The question is: What are our goals? How shall we meet them? What kind of a formal effort will we need? There are many possible ways for Congress to organize the official government recognition and celebration of the millennium: from a traditional "National Commission" to a Congressionally chartered public corporation to a foundation to loose knit "forum." Some 60 countries already have official millennium projects that serve a models. To decide what form the US effort should take, we need first to decide what we want to do and then select the best form.
Past celebratory commissions have primarily commemorated history, recent history, at least in comparison to a millennium. Few efforts of past celebrations have looked forward to the future. The dawn of the Third Millennium invites us to do more than a retrospective with a longer perspective. It invites us to look to the future. We do this naturally on personal anniversaries and collectively on public ones. Our New Year's Resolutions are testimony to this tradition. Every new decade we take a longer look. The Third Millennium is a quadruple set-point: a new year, a new decade, a new century as well as the new Millennium. (Imagine the 10th or 100th Millennium!)
Consider this Millennium: We established governments based on the consent of the governed. We discovered discovery, and with it, science, medicine and the art of learning. At the half-way point, the age of discovery, we proved the world round and discovered new worlds beyond our horizons. We created music and set it free. We harnessed fire and rain, not to mention light and lightening. We split the atom and tapped the power of the stars. We moved communications from notes to nano-seconds and computing from pencils to pico-seconds. We mastered flight, stepped towards the stars and reached the edge of time and the universe with our minds. And how much of this was just this Century?
If this past be prologue, what dreams can the Third Millennium hold? Our imaginations stumble to keep pace. However, the past is no longer prologue: the past no longer prepares us for the pace of unprecedented change. Even with the great accomplishments, the great changes of the past, we have left the greatest challenges to the voyage ahead. Realizing them promises great adventure and sheer exhilaration As we mark the passing of one epoch, one millennium, we have the inevitable mandate for taking an assessment of where we are, what we have accomplished for humankind in this millennium.
What is your vision? What projects do you propose? How will celebrate this springtime, this renewal of the human purpose and spirit? Share your ideas with your friends and colleagues, elected representatives, The World Future Society and The National Millennium Foundation. Source: This article, first published in 1987, was updated in "The Futurist" magazine, under the title of "A World Future Celebration," v29, n2, March-April 1995, p. 28. Descriptors: Future in popular cultureAnalysis, CivilizationHistory. Author: William L. Renfro is the founder of The National Millennium Foundation, Washington, DC. Phone: 1-202-662-7406, FAX 1-202-662-7035.
How do we get beyond the Y2K Computer Crisis? Is millennial fever and techno-phobia distracting the church at the advent of the third millennium? How must the church change in order to be relevant to the 21st century? Let your views be heard on our bulletin-board. Enter the Magi Forum... |
where millennial journeys begin Your comments are welcome: feedback@jaygary.com Copyright © 1999 by Bimillennial Press. All rights reserved. If you find this site helpful, please spread the word by linking to us. URL: http://www.jaygary.com/starof2000/2000/refro.htm Revised: June 1, 1999 |