Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5
When God began to create the heavens and the earth— the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters—God said, “Let there be light.” And so light appeared. God saw how good the light was. God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light Day and the darkness Night. There was evening and there was morning: the first day.
Thought for the Day: Today is a big day, one that comes only once every four years. It is February 29 of Leap Year, though that’s a bit redundant for it wouldn’t be February 29 if it was some other year. The concept of the Leap Year goes all the way back to the Egyptians who first recognized the need to add a day every four years. The Romans later solidified the idea that the calendar year was actually 365 1/4 days. Of course, that is not technically correct. It is 11 minutes and 14 seconds less than 365 1/4 days long, and for that reason, an additional correction was added in 1582. At that time, it was decided to skip Leap Year three times every 400 years. This additional correction has allowed for the calendar to work for the next 3,000+ years, but at that time, another correction will be necessary. The poet of Genesis 1 really had absolutely no concern for the technicalities of days, years, Leap Years and necessary corrections. Instead, the spiritual balladeer was interested in illustrating with rhythmic and structured meter the purposeful shape of creation. And even though we have a tendency to read all kinds of things into the first creation account of Genesis, the truth revealed in this Hebrew poem is that for which we continue to search. Amidst the chaos that is so often experienced, we claim the idea that divine purpose and design are woven into the very fabric of all that is known.
Prayer: Holy One of Creation, whether it is a special day like February 29 or one a bit more ordinary, let me seek your presence encrypted into every moment of every day. Amen.
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