I remember before, there are times after a day at work, my bride comes home and remarks, “It’s been a long day!” Being the supportive and understanding spouse that I am, I quickly concur with appropriate empathy.
Unfortunately, I am seldom content to merely agree, so I sarcastically add, “Yes, I heard on the news that today was 35 minutes longer than yesterday. Today, was, truly a long day.”
That rarely wins me any points but does garner an irritated glare.
What she may mean is that work lasted—or seemed to last—for a long time. Alternately, it could convey that work was very frustrating. I know what she means, but she doesn’t say what she means.
Instead, she insists that the day was somehow longer than normal.
It like fashion, some people quip that yesterday was the longest day of the year. But that is not correct either.
It was the same length as all the others; it merely contained more daylight minutes—and correspondingly less nighttime minutes—than any other day of the year. That is, for those of us north of the equator.
For those in the southern hemisphere, theirs was the shortest day of the year. Not really. It just had the least amount of daylight and the maximum amount of darkness.
What about those on the equator? I understand that they enjoyed an even 12 to 12 split of light and dark, just like every other day.
So whether your day was long—or short—or the same length as all others, I hope that it was a good one.
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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