Of all the rather odd celebrations that take place around the globe, the month of June has several that ought to rank quite highly. The ever popular Canadian Rivers Day is on the second Sunday of June, and Singapore International Water Week starts this year on the 16th. If you’re looking for something that lasts for the full thirty days, there’s nothing more appealing than the Great Outdoors Month in America. Or if you don’t fancy the travel then stay closer to home. Dentists of the UK will be overjoyed if you send them a card, because June is National Smile Month.

Why mark the glory of a smile with an entire month’s worth of commemoration? Or for that matter the Great Outdoors, Canadian Rivers or Singapore International Water? It seems to be about giving value and worth to something by making space for it. And then by assigning it a name it’s somehow made even more special.

There are of course more obvious occasions; Mothering Sunday, Remembrance Day, perhaps even our birthday’s! Each of these has greater claim to deserving our time and attention.

Unless the twenty-second of June is your birthday, it’s likely that it will pass unnoticed as the calendar moves relentlessly towards July. In the Church though, it’s the day that we remember and give thanks to God for St Alban.

Although comparatively little is known of the life of St Alban, what is certain is that for at least 1500 years the story of the death of this man for his refusal to renounce his Christian faith has been recalled, retold, and remembered. His actions had such an impact in his home town of Verulamium that it was his name that was attached to the city that was later built on and near the ruins of the older town.

In a day and age when much that is fleeting and disparate fights for our attention, the timeless truth of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is one that needs no special day. As the writer of the Psalms puts it, ‘this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad’.

(June 2016)