Volume 30, No. 14                                                 
April 3, 2005

A Timely Suggestion

   In 1909, Daylight Saving was an idea whose Time had come.

   But that wasn’t the case when Ben Franklin first  suggested in 1784 that setting clocks ahead in the spring and behind in the fall would help conserve expensive candles.  Not a flicker of interest.

   Then, early on a morning in 1907, British builder William Willett was riding through the countryside where he noticed that, even after sunrise, the curtains in most cottages were still drawn.  Deploring the waste of daylight, he wrote a pamphlet proposing that England set its clocks ahead by twenty minutes on each of the four Sundays in April, and set them back on each of the four Sundays in October. It was proposed in Parliament but few politicians gave it the time of day.

   That changed when the First World War brought a dire need to conserve coal.  The British Summer Time Act was passed in 1916, stipulating that clocks be set ahead an hour in the spring and behind an hour in the fall. Canada and the U.S. soon followed that timely suggestion and enacted Daylight Saving Time. Even so, the measure was so unpopular, it was scrapped in many places the following year.

   When the Second World War erupted, Daylight Saving Time was brought back, again to conserve fuel.  But when the conflict ended, some jurisdictions kept it and some didn’t.  And those who did, couldn’t agree when to set their clocks ahead and behind.  In those days, a driver on a 35-mile stretch of highway between West Virginia and Ohio could pass through seven separate time changes.  

   Hit hard by the prevailing confusion, it was the Greyhound Bus Company and the rest of the transportation industry that put the nation on the road to stability.  After intense lobbying, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966.  It didn’t make Daylight Saving Time mandatory, but it did stipulate that individual states had to observe it, or not, using a single, agreed-upon system.  Today, Daylight Saving Time is used in more than 70 countries.  It’s estimated most nations save one percent of their energy each day it’s in effect, amounting to a huge economic and environmental benefit.

   Making the most of our time is a powerful theme, not just throughout history, but in the Bible.  It’s imperative that we recognize time is a fabulous but fleeting gift. “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, flying back and forth,” says Job (7:6), who compares his life to a mere breath, or a quickly-vanishing cloud (v.7-10).  Each moment is ours to use or lose, and we get but one chance.  There’s no recycling program for wasted time.

   That makes it even more urgent for us to use our time and energy wisely because we, too, are at war.  It’s the world’s war against much of what we consider sacred and essential.  In relentless, often subtle attacks, cultural forces are slowly making Christian values unacceptable to a growing number of people — people who no longer embrace our moral standards, the idea that Jesus is the only Way to God, or even our right to evangelize in countries with their own religions.

   In such a climate, Christians must conserve time and resources to fight the right battles, instead of the minor ones that usually set us against each other, rather than the real foe.  We must fall back, not on traditions or the good ole days, but on the most important principles of love, truth and faith as expressed in the Gospel.  But we must also spring forward with a resounding message of hope, forgiveness and deep personal fulfillment found in the way Jesus changes lives.

   We’re called out of darkness into God’s daylight, saving time.  “So be careful how you live,” says Paul, “not as fools, but as those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity for doing good...  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do... [and] let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.” (Eph. 5:15-18)  “Live wisely among those who aren’t Christians and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be gracious and effective so you’ll have the right answer for everyone.” (Col. 4:5,6)  

   That gracious right Answer for everyone is Jesus, not dogma or denomination.  Think of how much more sensible and stable the highway to heaven would be if all Christians were synchronized.  It’s time.

By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the Followers of Christ church family in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To receive these free weekly articles via email, send a note to sgamble@bfree.on.ca