The night dressed in lights and went out for a walk, to greet the day. A different day.

A day when Humanity celebrates the entrance of a new year.

Yes, time, in fact, is only the succession of transitory things. A convention.

We have had so many calendars, over the ages. The Mayan calendar, believed to date back to the 6th century B.C.

The Islamic calendar, created in 633 after the birth of Christ, when the prophet Muhammad fled the city of Mecca for Medina.    

The Jewish calendar, which appeared at the time of the exodus, around 1447 before Jesus.

The Julian calendar, in honor of the Roman emperor Caius Julius Caesar. August was, then, the sixth month of the year. That is why it is called sextilis. The history of change comes from far away, from the Roman Empire.

It has ingredients of power and envy. Emperor Octavio Augustus won three victories that month. As a self-homage, he named it with his own name, Augustus.

 But, there was a catch. Sextilis had only thirty days. July, whose name reveres Julius Caesar, had thirty-one. In order not to stay behind, the emperor seized a day from another month. And that is why July and August are the only consecutive months with thirty-one days.

Finally, our current calendar, the Gregorian, of European origin which is the one used, officially, by most countries.

Enacted by Pope Gregory XIII, it replaced the Julian one, starting in October 15, 1582, after five years of study.

This gives us a faint idea of how much time really is a convention.

However, for the vast majority of Humanity, which adopts it, the 1^st of January marks the beginning of a new cycle. A twelve-month cycle, basically three-hundred and sixty-five days.

The only exception are the bissextile years, which occur every four years, with the objective of keeping the annual calendar adjusted with the  translation of the Earth and with the events related to the seasons.

Anyway, what matters is that this new beginning is full of celebration.

It is time to make goals for the next twelve months. Personal and group purposes.

It is time to plan important things for our lives: obtaining a university degree, entering the job market, marriage, the coming of a child...

Or a special birthday in our lives. Those that we usually highlight, still and always by social convention or personal decision: sixteen years, fifty years, ninety years.

Significant dates.

In this year, which just outlines its presence, which is dawning now, offering us the blue sky of new possibilities of progress and growth, let us thank God.

Let us give thanks for life, health, home, family, friends. For what we have. Even if it is only the dedicated presence of a dog.

New year. Time to be grateful. Time to begin executing our new life plan.

A plan that contains the acquisition of titles of nobility, personal, moral and intellectual improvement.

 A plan that tells us that, from now on, we will put into practice our most special quality: being human.

Human, from humanity, of peace lovers, fraternal coexistence, solidary help.

New Year! New Year! Let us be happy.

Spiritist Moment Team.
May 31.2021.