Most of us breathed a sigh of relief as the year 2000 was greeted with peace and harmony and computer disaster did not materialize. "Y2K-OK!", for example, was the banner headline in the January 1 issue of the Chicago Sun Times.

But wait! There are die-hard believers in Armageddon out there and they're not about to give up their ideas-at least until January 1, 2001. Surf on over to the MillenniuM & Apocalypse web site (www.mt.net/~watcher/new.html) and you'll see what I mean. The revised January 1, 2000 site contains the headline "…the world didn't end…" followed by a link to an article entitled "Save the Millennium party hats for Next Year…"

The link takes you to an article from the December 30, 1999 issue of the Christian Science Monitor. "Sorry to be a poop," states the reporter, "but this isn't the dawn of the new millennium… When the clock ticks past midnight on Friday, you will still find yourself confined to the 20th century." The reporter is referring to the controversy over the real millennium date: January 1, 2000 versus January 1, 2001.

Letter writing campaigns are underway by people like Jim Bergevin, founder of the Real Millennium Group (www.realmillenniumgroup.com). The famous science-fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, agrees with those like Bergevin. Clarke points out that the "Year of our Lord" started with year one. Therefore, the last year of the first millennium had to be 1000 and the last year of the second millennium, 2000.

This gives the doomsday crowd a whole extra year to try to convince us to live in extreme fear. The MillenniuM & Apocalypse site provides frequent updates on conspiracy and end time prophecy. The key words at the site are "THEM" and "THEY" as in "More than you should know about 'THEM'"-Illuminati News; "Who are 'THEY?'"; and "Why do 'THEY' do what 'THEY' do?"

My advice is to ignore sites like this and surf over to sites that feature enlightened New Age prophecy. One great site is Inward Journey, Gateway to Expansion (www.inwardjourney.com). This site features information channeled through Diandra by the spiritual entity Salem. I've personally followed Salem's messages for over three years and find them both uplifting and accurate. Yes, we are going through a paradigm shift on our planet, says Salem, but it can be a shift characterized by peace and unconditional love. It is up to us because we are a free-will planet. And the growing spiritual enlightenment movement indicates that we are on the right track.

As for the Millennium, Salem points out that this is just a date-a date created by us. Y2K disruptions, predicted Salem, would be minimal. Some psychics like Sylvia Browne prophesied a drastic drop in the stock market in November 1999. Salem, however, predicted that the market-and the economy-would remain strong with only small and temporary swings.

Salem isn't the only channeled entity that is bringing us good news. Check out most of the channelers on Spirit Web (www.spiritweb.org) or those featured in Sonoma Magazine. Most of them tell us that a new age of peace and love is being ushered in. By coming together as one mind and one spirit, we can help usher in this age.

I don't know about you, but I don't believe suffering is part of God's game plan. We need to move from the fear of our ego minds to join with the love of our divine mind to ensure that suffering is no longer part of mankind's plan. We can't do this if we give ourselves over to worry about the Apocalypse. So let's hold the creators of the MillenniuM & Apocalypse site in light and visualize their consciousness shifting away from fear and toward love.

World Hunger
One of the review requests for this column was The Hunger Site (www.thehungersite.com). This is an appropriate site to review as we begin the New Year. In the segment above, we sent some light to those who entered the year 2000 in fear. There are other things we should do to help eradicate fear. We can talk about leaving fear behind until we're blue in the face, but that act can be mighty hard for people who are literally starving. The Hunger Site contains information about world hunger and provides way for visitors to help.

The good news is that there are fewer people dying of hunger than 10 or 20 years ago. The numbers, however, are still staggering. It is estimated that about 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five. The number is down from 35,000 ten years ago and 41,000 twenty years ago, but it's still an awful lot.

The homepage of The Hunger Site contains a button called "DONATE FREE FOOD." The words underneath read "Click on this button to make a free donation of food to hungry people around the world. Our sponsors pay for your donation, which you can make once every day."

Click on the "DONATE" button and you go to a page that says "THANK YOU for your donation of 2 cups of staple food to a hungry person…" The Food is paid for by list of sponsors including proflowers.com, games2learn.com, MoneyPlant.com, Sprint, Blue Mountain Arts, Miadora Vintage Watches, greatergood.com and coolsavings.com. Links to each sponsor's site are on the page. The sponsors, of course, hope that you'll click on their links, but the food is donated whether you do or not.

I've been hearing a lot about greatergood.com, so I clicked on their link (www.greatergood.com). When you shop for brand name merchandise at this site, five to fifteen percent of your purchase is donated to the charity of your choice. When you register at the site, you choose the charity you want to donate to. To date, that list includes Special Olympics, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Children International, Defenders of Wildlife, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, KCTS, March of Dimes, National Arbor Day Foundation, National Federation of the Blind, National Parks and Conservation Association, National Resources Defense Council, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Save the Children, Share Our Strength, The Humane Society of the United States, The Nature Conservancy, The Wilderness Society, the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, Wildlife Habitat Council and the World Wildlife Fund.

If you sign up before 1/31/2000, you'll get a $5 Amazon.com gift certificate. I already do some of my book shopping via Amazon, so it makes sense to access the Amazon site via greatergood.com. That way, I'll get the books I want and help a worthy organization, too. And, I'll send a message to companies that equates social conscience with good business sense. I hope you'll join me. Join by going to The Hunger Site and you'll also help feed the hungry.

Remember, it's not one grand gesture, or the single stroke of the clock as it strikes midnight at the turn of a century that causes worldwide change. It is our accumulated individual efforts as we join together to visualize and actualize a more harmonious and peaceful world.

Mary Montgomery-Clifford is a certified web author and developer. Her company, Montgomery Media Enterprises ("Freelancing with Finesse!"), specializes in public relations, events, promotions, writing project and web authoring, development and publicity. Contact her via e-mail at Monty764@aol.com, by phone at 773-235-8821 or at her web site at www.montymedia.com.