Less than one in a thousand of us has February 29 for a birthday. This date comes only around every 4 years.
It takes 365 days plus almost six more hours to make a full orbit around the sun, so we get a quarter day behind every year. Back in the time of Julius Caesar (46 BCE) astronomers added an extra day to the calendar every four years to catch up. But that extra day actually gives us more time than we deserve,
leaping us ahead of ourselves a quarter day every century, so the Gregorian reform of 1582 skips the February leap on the centurial years like 1800, 1900 and 2100. Years divisible by 400 get to keep the leap year as we did in 2000. That keeps us more or less where we belong.
I haven't done the research myself, but I trust the science and so I welcome this extra day. Call it a "leap" of faith.
Astronomy helps us track our place in the universe, but I think this curious February 29th date also prompts us to reflect on the precious gift that time is. The ‘here and now’ we call it. It's both here and now. It's not so much faith, as faithfulness in time. Call it a leap-day of faith.
In Thornton Wilder’s stage play
Our Town, Emily is able to look back on her 12th birthday and she observes how superficially we all live. Now with the gift of real insight she says “I can’t look at everything hard enough” … “Oh Mama, just look at me one minute as though you really saw me.” … “It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another.” “Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you.” Finally she asks “Do human beings ever realize life while they live it – every, every minute?”
To be truly present to the gift of life makes us more fully alive. The first of Brian McLaren’s 12 simple words for a stripped-down
Naked Spirituality is the word “here”. God, becoming present to us in the timeless moment of now. Ourselves, becoming nakedly present to God in this uncensored reality of Today.
Today is a gift, an opportunity to open our eyes and look with wonder at the ordinary. It’s an invitation to celebrate, to give love, to go for a walk in the snow, a day to stop and give thanks for the gift, perhaps a day to catch up or plan ahead. It’s a
‘one-in-a-thousand’ day. Live it to the full. Make it a leap of faith.
Dave, This morning as I read your reflections on the "hear and now", I was especially impressed with the insight that to be keenly aware that "now" is a gift of life causes us to become more fully alive. That God has wonderfully made us, each crafted uniquely, is truly amazing -- but the distractions and discouragements in life too often keep us from "realizing" the richness of our lives. I know that as I have become more and more aware of God's presence and passion for all that He has created, I am beginning to delight more in all the different aspects of every day -- even the mundane and difficult things -- and as a result, I am getting nibbles of this "new and abundant life" that Christ has said is available to us. THANK-YOU for putting these profound thoughts into such clear and compelling words!
ReplyDeleteYes, Lisa, Embrace each day as a co-production between God and you. Thanks for your encouragement.
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