Sunday, August 31, 2008 Gueco: Calm August By Malu T. Gueco
ENDING the month of August, you and I can choose to find stillness, silence and solace in the golden sunset of its last day.
Walking into the terrain of comfort, we are able to renew our spirits, rejuvenate a weary heart and reinvigorate our sore vocal chords. In my case, crisscrossing the path of "solitude", I hear the hushed tones of the sunset, muted rhythms of the twilight and soft tunes of the moonless and upcoming black night.
"Solotude" is a term I coined to blend the idea of solitude with our attitude of peace.
Shining like the evening star, memories flashed across the skyline. Thoughts about this month breezed through my mind. Particularly, my curiosity was magnetized to find out about the origins of the month of August.
Opening the portals of cyberspace, let us retrace the story of this famous person from Roman times.
Augustus for "August"
"After Julius' grandnephew Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra and became emperor of Rome, the Roman Senate decided that he too should have a month named after him. The month Sextillus (sex=six) was chosen for Augustus, and the Senate justified its actions in the following resolution:
Whereas the Emperor Augustus Caesar, in the month of Sextillis...thrice entered the city in triumph...and in the same month Egypt was brought under the authority of the Roman people, and in the same month an end was put to the civil wars; and whereas for these reasons the said month is, and has been, most fortunate to this empire, it is hereby decreed by the senate that the said month shall be called Augustus.
Not only did the Senate name a month after Augustus, but it decided that since Julius's month, July, had 31 days, Augustus's month should equal it: under the Julian calendar, the months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days (with the exception of February), which made August 30 days long. So, instead of August having a mere 30 days, it was lengthened to 31, preventing anyone from claiming that Emperor Augustus was saddled with an inferior month.
To accommodate this change two other calendrical adjustments were necessary:
* The extra day needed to inflate the importance of August was taken from February, which originally had 29 days (30 in a leap year), and was now reduced to 28 days (29 in a leap year).
* Since the months evenly alternated between 30 and 31 days, adding the extra day to August meant that July, August, and September would all have 31 days. So to avoid three long months in a row, the lengths of the last four months were switched around, giving us 30 days in September, April, June, and November.
Finale
Leaving the pages of history, we now return to the present 21st century.
In our modern times, as we view the landscape of quietude, we hear the inspiring words of famous monks. An example was the kind monk Thomas Merton. He was a man who walked on this valley of solitude. Let us ease our minds with the eloquent message of his words.
"Solitude is not withdrawal from ordinary life. On the contrary, solitude is the very ground of that life; simple, unpretentious full human activity by which we earn our daily living and share our experiences with a few intimate friends...It is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it."
Yes, as we bid adieu to August, let the light shine in our life. Thanks to our loving Goddess for encouraging each one of us as we faced the pits of struggle, conversely, as you and I soared high on the peak of happiness.
May the blessings of "solitude" enfold your heart, empower your mind and energize your spirit of joyous contentment. Salamat to the calm wind of August for filling up our being with the inspiration of achievement, animation and aliveness!
