O timings of sadness and woe

Today I post my obligatory rant on the government imposed clock change, in the spirit of the Christmas holidays, with a hymn that may be sung to the English carol God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

God bless you meddling government,

From those whom you dismay:

The bumbling crime, you mess with time

To gain an hour a day,

To save us all from our own selves

As if from work we stray.

O timings of sadness and woe (sadness and woe),

O timings of sadness and woe!

Please consider “bless” in the first line within the same Southern tradition as we often say “bless your heart.”

Time change

Yesterday in the U.S. we experienced what we call a "time change" -- actually "time" stayed the same while we ran our clocks up an hour. From what I could find online, the first experiment with "Daylight Savings Time" occurred in Germany in 1916. It was first tried in the U.S. in 1918. Its appears that both cases were related to World War I and to conserve on the use (and cost) of artificial lighting. According to timeanddate.com, a few U.S. cities continued to use it after it was repealed up to the time it was re-instituted in 1942.

Yesterday at church we talked about a true time change, when God changed time for the battle at Gibeon.*

Joshua 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

This incident is a severe stumblingblock to moderns who have exalted science over scripture. It seems to be no cause for concern among those who believe God is greater than the universe He created.

* Another time change is recorded in Isaiah 38:8 - Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

Dangers of the Internet

In "Computers: Their Use and Abuse," Shaun Willcock points out some of the dangers the internet* poses:

* Firstly, it is a threat to your time.  How easily, how quickly, it can become all-absorbing, and before you know it you have idled away hours of precious time.

* Secondly, it is a place of great temptation. Well over half the world’s internet use is for accessing pornography. The devastating effects of porn are wreaking havoc across all societies.

* Thirdly, it is riddled with false doctrine and false religion...Not every website is sound. Not every “fact” is truly a fact.  It is astounding how gullible people are.

* Fourthly,...it can so easily cause an absolute information overload...They are constantly taking in information. Their heads swirl with information. They never relax. 

* which he also points out can be an amazing and wonderful tool

4 traits of time

The Bible speaks of when time shall be no more. But that "time" is not yet. For now our lives are governed according to time -- hours, days, months, years.

When I received my copy of The English Baptists of the 17th Century in the mail, it was packed in old issues of the Western Recorder, the periodical of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Naturally, I had to scan to the pages! In it I found what I thought was a productive article by Jeff Iorg on the subject of "time". Four of his main points are:

1. God created time and called it good, Genesis 1:3-5,31.
2. God established the time of your life, Psalm 139:16.
3. God calls us to stewardship of time, Ephesians 5:15-16.
4. God models a pattern of time use for His people, Gen. 2:2, Exod. 20:8-11.

Iorg sums up in closing: "God invented time and called it good. He places us at the right time in history and has appropriate timing for events in our lives. We are responsible to use time wisely, including following God's pattern for work and rest." -- From "Do you have a biblical understanding of time?" by Jeff Iorg in Western Recorder, August 16, 2011, p. 5

Obligatory rant

On Sunday March 11, 2012, the Sun rose about 1 minute earlier than it rose on Saturday the 10th. But to hear our clocks tell it, the Sun rose 59 minutes later. Men scurried and worried. The buffalo continued to roam, and deer & antelope played as if nothing had changed.

Remember the clock

Tomorrow (Sunday the 9th) morning at 2 a.m. marks a bi-annual psychological warfare of the United States government against its people.

Daylight saving time

Who decided we need more Daylight saving time?

According to Wikipedia, the idea of Daylight saving time began in 1905 with Englishman William Willett, and he published a proposal for it in 1907 (evidently Benjamin Franklin raised the idea as early as 1784).

"Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used." -- William Willett "The Waste of Daylight" 1907

"DST was first enacted by a national government by Germany during World War I...On March 19, 1918, the U.S. Congress established DST from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October." This was unpopular and was repealed in 1919. (Wikipedia)

Of course, we all understand (don't we?) that no daylight is actually saved, the amount of daylight being governed by the God-created sun rather than our watches. So the running back & forth of clocks and watches doesn't really save "daylight". Does it actually save energy? I don't know. I am simple enough to know that the "time change" associated with DST will increase the use of electricity in the morning and reduce its use in the evening. If the reduction of energy use in the evening reduction in greater than the increase of energy use in the morning, then a savings could occur. According to United States DOT, such a savings does occur -- about 1% each day.

"I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it. At the back of the Daylight Saving scheme I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves." -- Robertson Davies, "The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks" 1947

To me, Daylight saving time seems to be a government-imposed lifestyle change for all its citizens.

Clock change

Remember there is a clock change Sunday morning October 29. Move the hands on your clocks back an hour.