ONE LORD A-LEAPING
Happy Leap Day! Gee! I don't think I've ever said that before. I wonder why? After all, it seems to me that we live in a world that looks for reasons to take a day off, right? I mean, I'm jealous of all the extra holidays that the US has over and above that of Canada. But even here in hard-working, earnest, holiday-needy Canada, we have a holiday on the first Monday of August that doesn't even have a proper name. In Ontario it is Lord Simcoe day, here in New Brunswick, and in other provinces it's got the catchy name of "Civic" holiday. The only reason I can figure that we actually have this holiday is that someone somewhere once said, "Hey, the first Monday in August would be a great time to get a day off!" To me, our Civic holiday serves no other purpose than to give us a day off during the nicest time of the year - I'm happy with that reasoning, by-the-way. Still, in comparison to Civic Day, Leap Day seems legit to me! Certainly Leap Day, by it's very uniqueness, is special isn't it? So, why don't we have Leap Day cards and Leap Day parades and Leap Day Cakes? Why is it that I'm not home today readying myself to cut the Leap Day turkey, or ham?
Perhaps it's because, in my part of the world, one extra day slapped onto an already horrendously bleak month isn't the most natural reason to sit up and take notice. Still, the fact that once every four years, we have one extra day shouldn't be disregarded, should it? I mean, don't the Olympics come once every four years? It seems to me that people the world over make some noise over their coming, so why not Leap Day? I guess some things will always be a mystery too deep to fathom.
I have to admit that I, for one, have not completely ignored leap day. Wouldn't it be cool to be born on February 29th? — Maybe, maybe not! On the plus side, you would never have to deal with turning forty, like I just did. I mean to turn forty in leap years would actually be turning one hundred and sixty in normal years--not likely. On the down side, you'd have to wait 'til you were sixty-four before you got your drivers licence. But, all this deep pondering aside, what does having a leap day every four years really mean to us? What is its spiritual significance? I'm glad you asked!
The reason we have an extra day every four years is to make up for the fact that a complete year, based on our solar calendar, is 365 1/4 days, but, what do you do with the leftover 1/4 day? The only thing to do is add all those quarter days up and make a self-respecting honest day out of them.
Think of it this way-leap day is an extra day given to us because we have an imperfect, uneven calendar. Every four years we set things straight and acknowledge that for the last four years, we've been ignoring the messy business of imperfection. I know, I know, it's hard to own up to, but the truth is, we've been sweeping this black sheep of a quarter day under our annual rug. But, as in all things, there comes a day to 'fess up and deal with whatever we've messed up-thus February 29th the day of calendaric atonement.
Ok, so here's what I propose. I think Leap Day should become a holiday that we use to remind ourselves that we have one "Lord a-leaping". What do I mean by one Lord a-leaping? Well, just as leap day is our way of cleaning up our solar sin, Jesus' death upon the cross was God's way of cleaning up the rest of the mess. So Jesus is our Leap-Year Lord--He is the extra holiness tacked on the end of our life-long calendar that makes all things completely whole and perfect. So, with what's left of this day, spend some time cleaning out whatever you've swept under the carpet of your life and give it to God. He'll take all the broke bits of your life and exchange it for one complete life in Christ!
If you have any thoughts, questions, about this Whatcha, or anything else, drop me a line by clicking on my name at the bottom of this page.
