And Finally...

Well, maybe not quite. Knowing my enthusiasm for blogging this last week, I would not be at all surprised if there is another posting from me later on this New Year's Eve, though at the turn of the year itself, I shall probably be indulging in a glass of festive cheer with my Mum and trying to remember once again the words of Auld Lang Syne as millions around the world will be doing at sometime in the next 31 hours or so.
Could auld Robbie Burns ever have dreamt what a poignant impact his most famous song would have every January 1st come bong time, that strangely resonant hour of midnight when the most famous clock bell in the world, Big Ben, tolls the death knell for the old year? Moments later tonight, the noisiest pyrotecnhics will welcome in the new baby which has already been named: Anno Domini 2005.

So, assuming this "victory ceremony" has not already been and gone by the time you read this, how are you doing as we head for the finishing line of the tough race which has been A.D. 2004? Will you cross it in amazement like the newly-ennobled Dame Kelly Holmes back in August, one of the most enduringly happy visual images of this year which we now bid farewell to. Or, as the year closes in sombre mood with the continuing horror of events in the Indian Ocean communities, are you waiting for the start of the next big event tomorrow morning?
The news these last few days, understandably, has been of little else but the human tragedies and miracles in the aftermath of the tsunami. It will continue to be so for many of the early days of the new year as the death toll continues to rise well past one hundred thousand. The enormity of what has happened is stunning and tear-jerking, but if the best of the human condition which has been seen in the wake of the floods is to have true meaning, then ordinary life has to go on, even with its moments of joy and personal celebration. It's something Britons know well as the Blitz spirit. It is also very much in the spirit of Christmas and, I pray as we head into a new circuit of days, I hope it's something we will see much more of though please God no more flood horrors.
Whatever the scale of the destruction, and it cannot be under-stated just what an unprecedented natural disaster this is, every life lost had meaning and a value beyond rubies, just as those that remain do. So many islands affected: John Donne's words of centuries ago are more pertinent than ever: "No man is an island...Every man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in humanity. Therefore, send not to ask for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee"

FIVE GOLD RINGS
Oh what a surprise the New Year's Honours are -not- at the end of this Olympic year. I'm very pleased for Dame Kelly for this honour which surely crowns her year, along with the knighthood for Sir Matthew Pinsent and most deservedly of all maybe, the royal honour for paralympian Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.

We may not all possess legs worthy of Wonder Woman like Dame Kelly, or the nation's largest lungs like Sir Matthew, but we all deserve to collect our medals from our maker for whatever the last twelve laps have brought. Christmas is the starting gun for the second chance in the race of life which began with the worst false start ever by Adam. As the starting gun for a new year is raised, Christians are still remembering the celebration of the triumph of life and light over death and darkness which is at the heart of the Christian faith.
Christ is our bugfix!For all its ever-present annoying faults and the often self-caused flaws in its software, Mankind is the most amazing creation of all. The technology which enables me to bring these words to you may be mind-boggling, but nothing can top the complexity of the mind and spirit which makes each human being unique. That was the theme at the heart of the Stephen Spielberg film AI- Artificial Intelligence, shown on BBC ONE last night, which was itself very thought-provoking about the nature of life, love and happiness.
We revel at midnight because we have survived another year; we party because we live and move and have our being. Whether worse for wear after over-indulgent celebration,after pushing a body to its physical limits like our talented sportsmen and women, or enduring tiredness for the sake of the safety of others like aid workers and emergency services, New Year is humanity's celebration of itself, of survival and of promise. New Year may not have been God the creator's chosen feast but I know he too would raise a glass in Heaven at the award-winning performance of each fragile specimen of homo sapiens crossing the line at midnight. I wish you an enjoyable but sensible celebration, and a very happy, peaceful, healthy and prosperous New Year