Correcting Drift

Leap years exist to get our calendars back in sync with the solar system. So, February 29th is all about correcting drift. By inserting an additional day into the year, the drift can be corrected. We may owe the existence of leap year to the historic fling between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. The Egyptians were the first to figure out the need for a leap day. Caesar learned this through his escapades with Cleopatra and brought the concept back to Rome.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII put the Gregorian calendar in place which we still use today. At that time, the Julian calendar had drifted by 10 days and important religious holidays weren’t being observed on time, especially Easter, which is tied to the first spring full moon, not a specific date. So, the Pope declared October 4th the last day of the Julian calendar and the next day debuted the Gregorian calendar as October 15th, skipping ten calendar days and correcting the discrepancy.

An old Irish tradition says women can propose to men on leap days, allegedly to balance the traditional roles of men and women the same way leap day balances the calendar. This is sometimes known as Bachelor’s Day. Years ago, if the man refused a woman’s proposal, he was obligated to buy her 12 pairs of new gloves to hide her embarrassment at not having an engagement ring.

Drift happens. We live in a world of uncertainty. Search Google for “correcting drift” and the result is pages of links to scientific articles. Deviations cause drift in the performance of test and measurement equipment, corrupting the data and leading us to bad conclusions. Drift is a slow variation of performance due to aging components or environmental changes (i.e. temperature, humidity). The way to correct drift is to periodically re-calibrate the instrument. Calibration compares the instrument’s actual performance to the ‘gold’ standard.

In air travel, a pre-planned route is created for the trip and entered into the airplane’s computer.  The plane is on this exact route only a small percentage of the time. Changes in air pressure, winds, traffic, and weather can impact the journey. Yet, we still arrive safely at our chosen destination by correcting these drifts with adjustments. Everyday life is a journey and requires constant adjustments. Although we have a destination which requires a plan to get there, things happen along the way to deviate us from our path. What’s important is to know where we are going and be aware of needed adjustments along the way.

No matter what our role or level of responsibility, self-awareness is critical to success in work, life, and relationships. Unfortunately, some of us rarely have an accurate picture of what’s happening internally or externally, making it seemingly impossible to correct our course. We need to rely on the importance of honest evaluation, feedback, and direction; provided by a trusted colleague, mentor, or spouse. An accountability system can successfully prevent, reverse, and repair drifting. Assessing our current status against our goals allows us to put drift in perspective and focus on our purpose.

Correcting drift is ‘realignment’: the action of restoring something to a former position or state. Those who drive are familiar with a car out of alignment and the difficulty to drive straight. Without constant attention and adjustment of the steering wheel, the car will drift off the road. Today’s highways help us stay on course with rumble strips when we veer out of the lane. Our conscience can serve like rumble strips on the highway of life – God’s little nudges to keep us on the road.

The New Testament word for sin is ‘hamartia’, a Greek word that literally means to miss the mark or to veer off course. Theologians have long attempted to explain humanity’s tendency to veer off course and how it’s almost impossible to go straight without constant correction. With attentiveness and the acceptance of God’s constant outpouring of grace, we can avoid drifting too far off course and arrive at our destination.

In Proverbs 12:1 Solomon notes, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.” The path to wisdom includes obedience to teachers and parents. It also includes the acceptance of correction.

Humans created drift. Time is a man-made concept, so it needs to be recalibrated against the standard of God’s solar system. Instrument drift is man-made equipment needing to be recalibrated after operating in God’s natural world. Sin was created by the first Man and needed God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ to correct and get us back on course to eternal life.

Leap Day is intended to help the universe catch up.  It is an extra day which allows us to balance out the calendar and ensure we do not get too far ahead of ourselves. I will choose to use Leap Day as a course correction for myself.  A day spent in reflection on God’s grace to correct my drift.

For an additional Leap Day blog post click here

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