Today, Feb. 29, is Leap Year Day. It’s the day when I always think of my late great-uncle, Hal, who celebrated only 20 birthdays despite living through eight decades. Even without an extra day, this February was already full of official days—even some I’d never before heard of.
We don’t just have Ash Wednesday, Black History Month, Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day anymore. We also have World Wetlands Day (Feb. 2, also Groundhog Day), Rosa Parks Day (Feb. 4), National Wear Red Day (Feb. 5), World Radio Day (Feb. 13) and World Read Aloud Day (Feb. 24).
Did you know that leap years always coincide with the summer Olympic Games and the U.S. presidential election?
Who can count them all?
Maybe you lit a candle for Susan B. Anthony’s birthday (Feb. 15)? Or perhaps marched in a nonviolent demonstration or wrote a letter advocating for anti-trafficking laws on World Day of Social Justice (Feb. 20)? With so many national and global days set aside for various celebrations or awareness campaigns, who can count them all?
This might be a leap, but it’s kind of fun to imagine a list of possibilities if the church created new official days or observances. Say: Invite a Friend to Church Day, Free Coffee or Tea Day, Thank a Sunday School Teacher Day, Forgive like Jesus Day, Hug a Loved One Day, Church Without Walls Day, World Hunger Noisy Offering Day (might cause too many crowds, though), Sit in a New Pew Day, Faith Talk Day (tell someone about your faith journey), or Walk, Roll or Dance Your Offering to the Altar Day.
What day would you suggest?
Liz Hunter is editor of Gather magazine. This blog first ran on Leap Year Day, 2016.
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