February

By Jim Green

Are you sick of February yet?

I am. It has been cold and dark for too long.

February is a relative newcomer to the calendar. Pre-empire Rome only had ten months; there was no January or February. Winter was referred to, appropriately, as the “dead months” and the new year began with March. I guess when your kingdom grows up on the picturesque shores of the Mediterranean you can afford to ignore winter.

But somewhere between the Etruscans and the Romans our two cold, dark months were added, and February became the last month of the year. But it left the calendar messy. Every few years a leap month, named Intercalaris, was added and February was shortened so the year would align with the seasons and the solstices. Then Julius Caesar came along and scrapped the extra month, fixed February at 28 days, and created the leap year and the Julian calendar. 1500 years later, pope Gregory adjusted it slightly to make the solar calendar more precise and give us our current Gregorian calendar.

There, now you know.

But why is it called February?

It is named for the ancient Italic god Februus, the god of purifications, and the god of death. The Romans observed a time of atonement on winter’s last full moon. The festival of “Februalia” was a period of sacrifice and reflection. It was an end of the year cleansing of all the misdeeds and corruption you had accumulated throughout the year.

But how would I know I was cleansed? What does it even mean to be pure? And even if it all works, don’t I just begin accumulating impurities again on March 1st? Why bother with any of it?

We think we are so advanced in the modern secular west. We have convinced ourselves that the ancients were silly and superstitious, and we are not. We push away the notion of purity, cleansing, and forgiveness. We tell ourselves there are no gods to reckon with, just our smart phones that tell us what to value, and how to live the good life. So, we lie to ourselves and whisper we are fine.

I have said elsewhere that atonement has been lost. Forgiveness is rarely asked for and almost never offered. We assume we have no need of forgiveness, of repentance, of repair, of cleansing. Surely these are the thoughts of a madman, disconnected from the reality we all share. We have tossed aside atonement, like a child does with a gift it does not understand. We have traded away the beauty of forgiveness for a mess of pottage.

In its place we have received record levels of depression and despair, of suicide and opioid addiction, of alcoholism, and divorce. Who needs a priest when you can have fentanyl?

Jesus said, “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Matt.5:8

What does that mean? I want to see God, don’t you? But I would be a liar if I told you my heart was pure, even for a day. Anger, murder, lust, bitterness, and envy leap into my heart without warning; although, not always without permission. What hope is there for an unholy heart like mine? Even my motives are never pure. Are yours?

Here is the beautiful truth: holiness is contagious, you catch it from God. We do not need a festival of cleansing at the end of each year, because cleansing is held out to us freely every moment of every day. We need not fear the god of the dead or appease ancient deities. Jesus has thrown down the old gods and trampled them under His feet. He has flung open the eternal gates to sinful hearts like mine. He commands me to draw near and embraces me as a brother.

We were created to be a chorus. There is a song only you can sing; a story only you can tell. It is what you have been made for. But we are usually out of tune with creation, and the creator, and with each other. But if we walk together in the same direction, toward the same person, our songs will harmonize and become complete, until creation itself will bow down before the beauty of it.

Only then will our hearts be pure. Only then shall we finally see God.

When that happens, February will be gone, and we will not need emperors or popes to tell us what day it is. “For there will be no night there, and its gates shall never be closed.” Rev. 21:35

Spring is on its way.

“Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28