By Michael Hardy, Recor of Keighley Shared church - PEACE BE WITH YOU'

A new Millennium; a new chance for peace.

In January the World Disarmament Campaign asks churches, and all people of goodwill, to pray and work for an end to strife on Planet Earth.

Looking back, we wonder what can change. The Christmas angels sang of 'peace on earth', as they greeted the birth of Christ, the Prince of Peace.

But our carols remind us also of the wars and cruelties in history:

Beneath the angel strain have rolled

two thousand years of wrong;

and man, at war with man, hears not

the love-song which they bring:

Oh! hush the noise, ye men of strife,

and hear the angels sing.

Oh men, men! Some say: "If the men have failed, let the women try". Certainly, we should listen to what the women say, when the men of violence are having their own way.

Haven't we all been moved by the testimonies, on TV news, of the women of Chechnya? Don't they have a wisdom which could guide the way we behave in the new millennium?

On Sunday, at the Keighley Cenotaph, we shall dedicate a memorial to the victims of past wars. Civilians as well as combatants.

At the church service at noon, in the Shared Church on Church Green, we shall pray about these things.

For a less selfish, more patient way of living.

For respect for all our fellow-citizens of planet earth. For a new heart, to live by the message of the angels, the heralds of the Prince of Peace. Veterans and cadets, youth organisations and townspeople, will gather; why not join us?

"Peace be with you" - "and also with you."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.