When I was a child I did not like the latter days of summer very much because we had no air conditioning (no one did) and it was too hot to be outside during the day or to sleep well at night. I learned that these were called the dog days of summer. For a long time I had an image in my mind of an old languid bloodhound lounging on the porch trying to survive the heat. (anyone remember “Hee Haw” on TV ?) This is what I thought the dog days of summer meant, a perfectly useless, listless time. I was that kind of kid who preferred the school year over summer vacation and the class room over athletics.
Later I learned that the name for these hot summer days comes not from the behavior of dogs but the behavior of the stars. In late July and August the constellation “Canis Major” appears in the sky dominated by the dog star “Serius” as the ancient Romans called it. Those Romans originated the term “dies caniculares” for these days, and they thought these were days “when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies.” That seems a little extreme, but late summer does seem to be the season of drownings, motor cycle accidents, and carousing through the warm summer night.
An August issue of a national news magazine this year had as it’s cover story “The Case Against Summer Vacation” arguing that “we romantize it, but all that downtime is making our kids fall behind, especially those who can least afford it.” The cover story is mainly about how quickly we lose what we have learned when we are not using it or building on it. They call it “summer learning loss.”
The Bible teaches “to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) and although the list that follows this verse does not include “a time for vacation and a time for work” it would surely fit in with the other couplets for which this chapter is famous. A break from the regular routine of daily living is good for a person, often giving people new energy for the tasks to which they return.
The Bible also teaches us to “be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time for the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16) Even these dog days of summer are days to use to the glory of God and for the good of his people. It is not a time to devote entirely to ourselves and our own pleasures, but a time to be recharged for the work ahead and to take just a little different approach to work and worship.
For me, one of the joys of a weekend trip away is to worship God in another congregation with different people. It is refreshing to be in the pew instead of the pulpit on Sunday morning once in a while. Last month, after worshipping at an ELCA church in Livonia, Michigan, I had a person express amazement that I went to church when I was on vacation. But how could it be any other way? The Lord is good to me 52 weeks of the year. He doesn’t take a summer break and leave me to my own devices. He’s there all the time, even in the dog days of summer. So I want to enter his house to give thanks and praise, even in the summer.
As write this I am well aware of the many farmers in this part of the world for whom August is anything but a slow time. For small grain farmers it is a month of intense harvest work, quite different from the experience of those in the corn belt and those who live on a school year calendar.
But whatever your experience, the thought I have to share this month is “make the most of the time.” Work, worship, read, relax, learn, and grow in the faith. Carpe diem!