The Millennium Resolution is above my computer screen as I type this letter, reminding me of the attraction of new beginnings and that each day holds fresh possibilities and the potential to see the new life God offers to us in His world.

Reflecting back over the last few weeks, there have been many ‘new starts’ to rejoice in for our community here at Aston Tirrold. On 5 December four new members publicly declared their faith, and we all made promises to grow together in unity to the glory of God. In the same service a baby boy, not long after beginning life itself, made another new start through baptism, joining our church family with the help of promises from his parents and godparents. Then all of us shared the bread and wine together in communion – another new start. The remembrance of Jesus, a life broken for us: ‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full’ (John 10 v 10).

Another new beginning on 19 December, when the baptism of a baby girl preceded the story of the birth of Jesus told by two of our Junior Church children. As we listened to the familiar words we looked at the Nativity tableau with Mary accompanied by a good number of angels, kings and shepherds. Thank you to everyone for the reminder of another new beginning.

Many people will be telling their grandchildren in years to come about what they did and where they went on the eve of another new start – the celebrations of the New Millennium – the start of a new century and new era. In addition to our individual celebrations in our different communities, we shared in a Service of Light on the first Sunday morning with our Anglican friends. Lighting our candles from a central Millennium candle, listening to the Resolution spoken by a young person and sharing communion in South Moreton Church, we proclaimed a new beginning.

We are four weeks into a new Millennium. Has your new start disappeared into oblivion or has the promise of a new beginning – the dreams and the hopes – faded, as you face yet one more day? Has the new start failed to live up to its promise? Failure, tiredness, despair with circumstances, routine, any number of situations can make the idea of a new start pall. Yet the promise of our faith is that, whatever our feelings or experiences, there is nothing which takes us beyond the opportunity to begin again with God.

New every morning is the promise of God’s love – for you and for me.

Grace and Peace –

Keith

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"Jesus re-discovered" will be the theme of an ecumenical Bible study course which we will share during Lent with the Anglicans in the Astons. The group will meet at All Saints, Aston Upthorpe, on Wednesday 15 March at 7.30pm, and weekly thereafter at venues to be announced. Everyone is invited.

The Bible study group will meet for three sessions in Lent, in the Centre's Quiet Room from 2-3.30pm on Tuesday afternoons at fortnightly intervals: 7 and 21 March, and 4 April. The theme will be "Putting our faith into practice in our day-to-day relations and situations". Contact Gill Green (01491 652024) for further information.

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As has been my habit for the last few years, I set out in mid-October on British Airways from Heathrow to spend two and a half months in northern India, mainly at Christian Medical College in Ludhiana.

I usually spend a couple of days in Delhi at St Stephen's Hospital which is another charity hospital which in recent years has had a generous donation from the ODA (Overseas Development Agency). This is a United Kingdom government fund and has been spent at St Stephen's mainly on the maternity and childcare services. St Stephen's is a very busy hospital in Old Delhi and is some way from the centre so it's usually a very hectic journey through the hustle and bustle of the older parts of the city. At this hospital I have some involvement with a community project in the slums where we have been determining the prevalence of anaemia in antenatal patients. This turns out to be something like 50% of the women and so treatment of the low haemoglobin levels in the blood helps to reduce the problems during delivery and for the newborn baby.

Ludhiana is some 200 miles north of Delhi and is a four-hour journey on what is called an air-conditioned chair car train. Frequent refreshment helps divert one from the boredom of the journey.

Christian Medical College covers a large area including an extensive residential campus. The guests are accommodated in a bungalow that has a delightful outlook across extensive gardens. The plumbing is somewhat archaic but works, treated with care. The occasional electricity blackout gives the opportunity for quiet reflection by candlelight.

My time is divided assisting two of the haematologists, one who works mainly on the wards and one who works mainly in the laboratory. I attend ward rounds each day starting at 8.30 and there is a very interesting collection of cases to se, including tuberculosis, tetanus, malaria, dengue, meningitis, anaemias of various types, and some fairly serious blood disorders that are treated at the hospital. In the laboratory I am involved in working up new techniques, helping to maintain some rather old machinery for blood counting and, in particular, helping to maintain the quality of the work that is carried out. In addition, I also give tutorials for various groups of staff, including technicians, junior doctors and postgraduate students in pathology. This proves to be a very rewarding area and most people involved are keen to learn more about their subject. I have to spend a fair amount of time doing some homework as one gets a little rusty due to age and also due to the fact that one is no longer in full-time practice.

There have been two high points of my two and a half months spent in Punjab this year. The first was when a small group came out from the UK which included Dorothy my wife, two Americans from South Carolina and one of my sons and his lady. The main objective of the trip was for people to discover a little more about CMC Ludhiana and we spent four nights in the guest house at the hospital.

Following our stay at Ludhiana the group moved down to Delhi, to Jaipur and to Agra, where they were able to see for themselves in all its beauty the Taj Mahal.

The other highlight of the time ini Punjab was the visit of a distinguished London haematologist, Dr Barbara Bain from St Mary's Hospital. She is a renowned teacher in this particular speciality and she gave two lectures and carried out two haematology workshops in the hospital for postgraduate doctors. This was not only attended by doctors from Christian Medical College but also from a number of medical schools in the Punjab.

One of the very interesting areas in which I have been involved on this visit is the evaluation of complex electronic machines for counting blood cells and the money has been set aside for purchase of such a machine. This has entailed trips to various laboratories to assess the suitability of different pieces of apparatus for our work at CMC. The final decision has yet to be made and we are seeking some assistance from experts in the UK over this matter.

There have been great efforts over the past 18 months to upgrade the hospital in many areas under the new director, Dr Silas Charles. The hospital is now much smarter and patients are made more welcome than in former years. The necessity for publicity and good public relations are paramount in attracting adequate numbers of patients to hospitals so that they are financially viable. We are asked to pray for the senior members of staff who have taken on very considerable responsibility in the area of management of the hospital and especially for the Director and the Principal of the College, Dr Aby Thomas, as they preside over this vast institution.

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1. Avoid being alone. Isolation is poison for the depressed person for through this the devil attempts to keep him in his power. "Talk among yourselves, so that I know I am surrounded by people," said Luther one day when feeling depressed.

2. Seek out people or situations which generate joy. Joy is always pleasing to God, even though it may not be of a strictly religious origin.

3. Sing and make music. Make music of your own rather than simply listening to it. "When you are sad and feeling discouraged, just tell yourself, 'Up! Up! I must play a song on the organ in praise of my Lord'."

4. Dismiss heavy thoughts. Beware of becoming engrossed by gloomy despairing thoughts. Laugh at the devil or scorn him, but by no means give in to him.

5. Rely upon the promises of Scripture. They encourage our mind to think positively, especially verses learned by heart. They are like rods and staffs, comforting us when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23).

6. Seek consolation from others. When depressed we often make mountains out of molehills. A friend sees things in the right perspective and reminds us of the realities to which we are momentarily blind.

7. Praise and thanksgiving. These are powerful weapons. We are reminded of Nebuchadnezzar, who when he raised his eyes to heaven and praised God, came out of the depression which had so dramatically seized him (Daniel 4:28-37).

8. Think of other depressed people. This shakes us out of our self-centred sorrow in which we are tempted to believe that no one in the whole world has suffered as much as we have.

9. Exercise patience with yourself. This requires practice and training of the mind to embrace the fact that life contains valleys and deserts to be traversed with a positive spirit. We must learn how to persevere at such times of stress.

10. Believe in the blessing of depression. The German word for depression is Schwermut. Schwer can mean heavy as well as difficult. Mut is the word for courage. So the word Schwermut contains a positive message. It means the courage to be heavy-hearted, the courage to live with what is difficult. Depression can sometimes be part of God's plan to open our eyes to realities of life we would not otherwise see.

This life, therefore,
is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness;
not health, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it;
the process is not yet finished, but it is going on;
this is not the end, but it is the road.
All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.

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