2020 is a leap year

This means that this month of February will have 29, not 28 days, in it. What will you do with that day, I wonder? Some women might take advantage of it to propose to their men who are a bit slow on the uptake. For a few people it will be a chance to celebrate their birthday for the first time in four years. For most of us, however, we might barely notice it, which would be a shame as the gift of time is a precious one. We live in a time-poor society and an extra day seems like a special gift to many of us who are often saying that we just don't have time.

What will you do with an extra day in 2020? You might want to reflect on this. Take time out for yourself, go on an extra-long walk, catch up on those things that have been lying there waiting to be done. You might think to use some of that extra day to help others, going to visit someone who you have not seen for a long time or simply doing that simple act of kindness that would make all the difference.

The Bible tells us that “there is a time for everything and a season for every activity on earth”. We all, rich and poor alike, have the same amount of time in each day. Use it wisely. You might like to adopt the founder of Methodism John Wesley’s motto, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

God bless

Mike Gilbert, Rector