Daily Prayer, 22 February

It’s always irked me a bit that we eclipsed the celebration of both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays with the more generic “Presidents Day,” as if all of the U.S. Presidents were as worth remembering the same way. And so for generalizing we lose specific remembrance of the great ones. So, I didn’t want the birthday of the Father of Our Country to slip by unnoticed. I also wanted to include a less well-known figure whose contribution, though small, was significant. Sailors on a ship, just like anybody, can sometimes feel like a cog in a machine whose contribution is both unnoticed and unimportant. It’s good to learn from history that some of the great movers of our society were the small contributors whom most of us struggle to remember, but whose contributions are no less significant because of that.

Officially, February 22^nd is the date we commemorate George Washington’s birthday, but he was actually born on February 11^th. Why the change? At the time of Washington’s birth England and its colonies were still using the Julian calendar that had been in use for the more than 1600 years since the time of Julius Caesar, from whom it gets its name. However, over those centuries the calendar had developed inaccuracies that were discovered by scientists in the 16^th century. With the help of new technologies like telescopes they found that the equinoxes and solstices were not actually where they were supposed to be on the calendar. So, in 1752, the English Commonwealth adopted the new Gregorian calendar, which is named for Pope Gregory XIII, whose scientists recommended the change in 1582, and is still in use today.

The adoption of the Gregorian calendar shifted everything to the right by 11 days, like moving the clock forward in Spring, to match the solar calendar. Thus, for example, George Washington’s birthday moved from the 11^th of February to the 22^nd. Throughout his own presidency the country celebrated his birthday on both dates. So, when you set your clocks and watches ahead another hour tonight, just imagine how confusing it would be to wake up tomorrow and have it be next week.

Not only is today a noteworthy birthday, but there is also a woman who died today who deserves our recognition.

Frances Harper was an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, author, and teacher who was one of the first African-American women to have her work published in the United States, and the first to publish a short story.

She was born free in Baltimore in 1825, and orphaned when she was only 3 years old. From then on she was raised by her maternal aunt Henrietta, whose husband, Rev. William Watkins, saw to it that she was educated. When she was old enough, Frances joined her uncle as part of the American Abolitionist Movement in the mid-19^th century. She died this day in 1911, and so I thought I would share with you one of her poems that illustrates the importance of education.

Learning to Read

Very soon the Yankee teachers
   Came down and set up school;
But, oh! how the Rebs did hate it,—
   It was agin’ their rule.

Our masters always tried to hide
   Book learning from our eyes;
Knowledge did’nt agree with slavery—
   ’Twould make us all too wise.

But some of us would try to steal
   A little from the book.
And put the words together,
   And learn by hook or crook.

I remember Uncle Caldwell,
   Who took pot liquor fat
And greased the pages of his book,
   And hid it in his hat.

And had his master ever seen
   The leaves upon his head,
He’d have thought them greasy papers,
   But nothing to be read.

And there was Mr. Turner’s Ben,
   Who heard the children spell,
And picked the words right up by heart,
   And learned to read ’em well.

Well, the Northern folks kept sending
   The Yankee teachers down;
And they stood right up and helped us,
   Though Rebs did sneer and frown.

And I longed to read my Bible,
   For precious words it said;
But when I begun to learn it,
   Folks just shook their heads,

And said there is no use trying,
   Oh! Chloe, you’re too late;
But as I was rising sixty,
   I had no time to wait.

So I got a pair of glasses,
   And straight to work I went,
And never stopped till I could read
   The hymns and Testament.

Then I got a little cabin
   A place to call my own—
And I felt independent
   As the queen upon her throne.

LET US PRAY

Lord, as we remember the achievements of both President George Washington and Frances Harper today, let us never forget that it took contributions from all kinds of people, from all walks of life, to make our nation great. May we be encouraged by their example to add our own contributions as well, because You, the God who fed multitudes with only two fish and five loaves can multiply our gifts, however small, and make them sufficient for the needs of many. For You are the giver of all good things and to you we give glory, thanksgiving and worship, now and forever, and to the ages of ages.

AMEN