So that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness,I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. Isaiah 45:6-7 (NIV)
It is no secret that I despise the changes caused by daylight savings time. This weekend, I read on Facebook, “Only the government would take an hour from the beginning of the day and add it to the end of the day and tell us that they are making the day longer.” Yeah, right. All daylight savings time switches do is make me lethargic, grumpy and irritable. I am not a morning person and in the spring, daylight savings time makes it harder to get out of bed in the morning. When the alarm clock goes off, it is still light one day and the next day, it is pitch dark, I just want to snuggle under the covers. To heck with getting to work on time. Yes, I do have a little extra spring in my step when we make the initial change forward, but only because it is light when I go home from work. Until of course, the fall when my clock moves back but my body stays forward. On Sunday, I woke up at my usual time of 6:15, but unfortunately, it was the new time of 5:15. The dogs were already stirring because their internal alarm clocks were also going off. When I staggered to the back door to let them outside, I heard Trucker loudly proclaiming that I should come out and feed him breakfast. So, I gave up on plans to go back to bed and live by the clock and took care of my animals instead. They are so much smarter than humans. No need to explain the benefits of the time change to them. It makes no sense to them. Nor does it to me. The good part of getting up so early was that I was able to feed all the animals and still have time to walk down to the bay to see the partial eclipse of the sun as it rose in the east. What I could see squinting into the daylight was interesting as a little sliver of the moon crossed the sun’s path. It did cross my mind that the sun did not care what the clock said. It was rising at the same time it always did. It was my life that was abnormally affected. I did have time for breakfast before going to set up for an event at church that also required an early arrival. On this particular Sunday, an early morning worked well all round. But, in the evening, when it was 7:45, and I was already for bed, it was not such a good thing. If I were Queen of the World, the first thing I would do would be to eliminate these switches in schedule and do away with Day Light Savings Time. You can’t fool me once or twice a year and make me think it is a good thing. My old tired body has its own opinion. In the Bible, it says that God controls the rising and setting of the sun. It also says that the rising and setting sun are designed to teach us about God, His power and endurance during the little bit of daylight we are given while here on earth. Thankfully, God is in control. I can rest in that.
I am no fan of spring forward, but I rather enjoy fall back. Yes, I get up way too early, but it gives me a little extra time to just enjoy the quiet of the morning. By the time I go to church, my clock is put back where it belongs.