Okay. Pet peeve about to be unleashed. I’m tired of all the “national” day movements that are crowding the calendar. I deleted the email quickly, but something in my Junk folder called today the World Animal Day. What? Why? Why do animals of the world get a day?
I looked through the National Day Calendar to verify. Nope. Not on it. There are 2,131 days of particular meanings, but nothing today tells me to remember the World Animals. Today, October 5, is National Be Kind, Do Something Nice, Kiss a Wrestler, Get Funky, or celebrate a Teacher. However, World Animal Day was yesterday, but the email showed up today. Whew, I am saved from missing a celebration by slow email!
It was probably spam, scam, or phishing anyway!
This early morning thought forced me to calculate how much time we spend honoring, remembering, and celebrating on certain days things like Tacos, Vodka, Cinamon Rolls, Golf, Mean Girls, and even people with the name of “Kevin.” Yes. There are all special days in October preceding my morning thought. Somewhere in our collective past, someone thought it would be nice to give honor and created a movement to celebrate something, someone, anything, or anyone.
Yes. Some movements and celebrations get an entire month. Some are national, and others involve the whole globe! If the groundswell is significant enough, you could start a movement in your garage and get the whole world to buy into celebrating and remembering something. Someone. Anything. Anyone.
Foodies, unite! You could have your month!
Observances and Religious Celebrations
Before I discount the day’s remembrances, observances, and celebrations, we all have days that mean something personal. Special days apply to ourselves, and we choose to spend our mental and spiritual energy on them. Some days are religious. Others might have significance to our national identity, which also includes loss and suffering. Sure it’s good to remember days that bring awareness to our current crisis, but those days are limited in scope and time.
Eventually, crises fade into History, and we stop focusing on them. I mean, what happened on January 1, 1000. Yes. The year 1,000. Most systems only go back several hundred years, but some document a long way back. Go ahead, click on the link and see what happened 1,021 years ago!
The Bible is full of special days that have spiritual significance. Most are God-ordained, so if God says to do it, I suspect we’ll keep that as a focus!
I’ve allowed my calendar to store remembrances particular to my world. Death and birthdays are common. Marriage and divorces, yes, both are showing up. A few relocations. If I’m not careful every day will have some critical item to observe!
Why does every dog have its day? Hmmm. Glad you asked. It’s a proverb that says everyone will have good luck at some point…but it doesn’t say it happens every year!
Remembering the Past Can Be Destructive
In his letter to the church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul admonished how they quickly forgot their walk with Christ and returned to remembering all the special days that no longer matter.
But now that you know God—or, I should say, now that God knows you—how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?
You pay special attention to certain days, months, seasons, and years.
I am worried about you! Can it be that all my work for you has been for nothing?
(Galatians 4:9-11 GNB)
There are too many days observed that are to our detriment. They connect us to our lives from before we walked with Christ. When we give them prominence, then they weaken our walk. To an alcoholic, it would be like remembering National Vodka Day and then doing something with the memory! Remember. That’s one of the special days for today!
Remembering the past was something Paul also reminded us to stay away from.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 3:13-14 KJV)
What’s your focus? Are you remembering something you should put behind and forget? We all are. Let’s not get distracted. The times are not fruitful to our direction forward as we are being dragged into the past. On the flip side, perhaps you’ve been ignoring something that has particular importance. Don’t forget what’s important, and discard that which is not. Good advice on a lot of fronts!