What Time Is It? by Barbara Reid History books record that a monk in Europe calculated that he was living 532 years after Jesus and initiated the B.C./A.D. concept, which caught on only gradually over many more centuries. There are those who say that the turning of the current millennium is nothing more than the changing of a date. The date, they say, is arbitrary, based on that monk's reconstruction, several hundred years afterward, of the probable year of the birth of Jesus Christ. Others believe that there is far-reaching significance to this time in history: the Age of Aquarius, the end of the Mayan calendar, the time of prophecies. According to many, life has a significant spiritual component, and there is an overarching plan that is being played out in colossal events linked to the turning of the millennium. Now, in the news, we are hearing about a significant worldwide event that neither faction can deny. The interpretation of its meaning is left to us. The U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO), a respected agency charged with evaluating the functioning of our government, has declared that the changing of the numerals from 1999 to 2000 is extremely likely to wreak havoc with the world's computers. They're calling it the Y2K (year 2,000) problem. Computers in every major agency and corporation, from the Internal Revenue Service to the Pentagon to RJR/Nabisco, operate based on internal clocks and calendars. In most cases, the calendars use only two digits for the year, as we all do on occasion, e.g. 4-20-98. Imagine a computer instructed to begin the fiscal year on 6-23-99 and end it on 6-22-00. This will appear to be a logical impossibility (like going backward 99 years) and the computer will reject the command. A recent New York Times article reports, "A count by the Office of Management and Budget on February 15 found that with two years of effort completed and 21 months to go, only 35 percent of computers that are critical for agencies to perform their missions have been checked and fixed, with 3,500 remaining." A computer specialist at the GAO testified at a hearing, "It is unlikely that agencies can complete this vast amount of work in time." That's just in the U.S. government alone! Now think of the millions of applications of this: manufacturing, banking and insurance, healthcare, airlines, delivery systems for food and goods of all kinds. "Automatic teller machines, card-key access systems, and even the clock-thermostats that run heating and cooling systems could be affected, experts say, but no one is sure," according to the New York Times. Even if some corporate calendars can be redesigned before the new century, others may not be converted quickly enough. And it is not a single system, but interface among all the computers, that allows our Western lifestyle of convenience and variety to be carried on. This sounds like a very stressful and challenging scenario, so naturally, I asked my teacher, ascended master Djwhal Khul, about it. To my surprise, he began by assuring me that the projected computer failure need not occur. If humanity is willing to see with new eyes, totally unexpected results can be created. A member of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee was quoted in the New York Times: "We have no choice at this point but to double our rate of progress, and then we must double our rate of progress again." Is this possible? The cosmic answer is yes! As you know, our thoughts are made of the same stuff as electricity: energy. If we apply our thoughts to optimism and to the full application of electronic wizardry in the physical world now, we can affect the direction and speed of the energetic flow. This doesn't mean we all are electronic wizards in earthly life, but through our thoughts, meditations, and actions, we can empower those who are. Humans are co-creators, with God or Source, of three-dimensional reality, and the method of this creation is intention. It is important that our intentions be free of attachment, or the feeling that we must have the result we want, so the first step is to let go of all fear and panic and all sense of need regarding this issue. Catastrophic thinking is lack of trust in a loving and infinitely creative universe. Wonderful and unlikely things happen all the time! We are wise to dwell not on dire predictions, but on the constant and rapid expansion of real-world possibilities. Djwhal Khul's next comment was, "Computers are a wondrous tool to serve humankind; humankind is not to be their servant, nor to lean too heavily upon them." We have created a monster, and have come to rely on the monster for much of what we consider the necessities of life. Monsters can be unpredictable. "A computer is not a brain, less yet a mind," wrote the ascended master. Humans must not leave important life functions and decisions on automatic pilot, thinking that the computers can handle all that. We ourselves are to be in charge of knowing where our food comes from, helping others, and learning to live in community. Computers are not, as some have come to believe, requirements for these functions. The human family does not actually need bananas from distant continents, huge government charity agencies, or the Internet. I, for one, would have an extremely hard time accepting the sudden removal of any of these! It seems, though, we could be called on to deal with just that — if we don't face the need for a shift in our thinking. Our reliance on computers is out of balance. What can we do, beyond sending energy for the electronic solution of Y2K? How about growing some of our own food, buying from local organic farmers, and community-supported agriculture? How about choosing a local charity or one needy family and donating time or money regularly? How about getting some measure of mutual support started in our neighborhoods, like a rotating potluck or a work exchange? In all these cases, we are using our brains and our minds in their most creative capacities, stretching into our possibilities, and putting in place systems that strengthen the human side of earthly life. Djwhal Khul's final comment on the topic was, "Time is not linear in true reality." This, for me, is a lifelong challenge: to live as a collaborator with time, not a victim of it! Is this not the same challenge our computers — our creations, our tools — are facing right now? Cosmic time does not march along automatically, each minute exactly the same as the one before; it swirls in great rhythmic spiral sweeps. Doesn't common sense tell us that a year in the life of a toddler is a much longer time than a year in the life of a middle-aged adult? Haven't we all had the experience of time dragging when we were waiting for something to be over, or the hours moving very rapidly when we had many things to do? What about the times we daydream of what might be, or relive an experience from yesterday, or from our childhood, or from another lifetime? Is time linear then? I cherish those unmeasured moments or hours when I lose all track of time because I am fully engaged. Ascended master Kuthumi says, "You are unlimited cosmic consciousness, limited only by your perceptions." Must we, as a society and as individuals, continue to discount all these very real human experiences because our clocks and computers tell us time is always moving forward with relentless regularity? Or can we learn and teach how to perceive the cycles of time swelling and shrinking, seeming to gallop, flow, or stand still? Can we know that time is as abundant as love? What effect could this difference in perception have on the computer calendar crisis? I believe we come to this earthly plane to experience soul growth through learning opportunities. My understanding of how the universe offers us lessons is this: We are offered a lesson on a platter at teatime. If we pass because it is not our preferred flavor, the next time it comes with a tap on the shoulder. If we don't pay attention that time, before long the universe is shaking us or giving us a shove. What are the lessons we are all deciding to experience in relation to Y2K? Yours may be very different than mine. It's my fervent hope that, as a culture and as individuals, we will not turn our back on this worldwide learning opportunity, nor treat it as an accidental event whose solutions lie only in the physical dimension. The universe has found a very interesting way to get our attention! Barbara Reid is an intuitive, teacher, and channel. With Ascended Master Djwhal Khul, she offers Inner Life Readings, helping individuals and couples access broad and deep self-knowledge. For readings, relationship audiotapes, weekly classes, or free sample copy of newsletter, call or write Lifeways, 6201 15th Avenue NW #P-270, Seattle, WA 98107-2382, (206) 783-4185.