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I think I’ve gotten around to changing all the clocks in the house. The car is another challenge, but I’ll figure it out some day. I just may have to drive around a few weeks and remember that the time showing is not the real time. Ah, the good ole days when sundials were the “thing.”I read somewhere a man said he wished he could set his time ahead by 4 years. I think he’s a Republican! So, I’ll give a Democrat equal time. Emily Rosenberg, a supposed comedian, says that “Daylight Saving Time is canceled this year because the Republicans have already set the clocks back by several decades.”

I wish the government would make a decision to let the time stay the same all year. Actually, I wish the government would make a decision, period. An American Indian was told the reason for Daylight Saving Time and said, “Only the government would believe you can cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it onto the bottom, and you’d have a longer blanket.” Daylight Saving Time was officially decreed by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, but not everyone followed the law. We had a farmer in my community in Mitchell County, Mr. Arthur Layton, who refused to go along with Uncle Sam. He kept his time the same all year and, when told about some event and its starting time, would always ask, “Is that old time?”

To be honest, I enjoyed the light of day waking me up around 6:15. Now I sleep later because it’s still dark at 7:00. And I haven’t gotten used to the sunlight coming through the windows at 8:00 PM at night. I’m like the old farmer, I wished they would leave the time alone. Here’s another thing about changing the time. Why 2:00 in the morning? How about 3:00 in the afternoon when you’re awake. I asked the question, “Why 2:00?” and got the answer from Reader’s Digest. Blame it on the railroads. When I said that DST was officially begun by an act of Congress, that was correct, but prior to that there was an informal change of time. It was introduced during World War I and Sunday morning, 2:00 AM, was the time when the least trains were running and, thus, the least interruptions for the popular mode of train travel. Did you know that Hawaii and parts of Arizona are the only states that do not observe DST? Someone asked, “What time is it?” Another answered, “It’s 4:45.” The first person said, “You know, I’ve been asking that question all day and, each time, I get a different answer.”

As a pastor, the Sunday when time change occurs, particularly the one of “spring forward,” is not the best day to take attendance. It’s also the most unpredictable of Sundays. But it’s a great day for excuses. This year the time change had a partner. Not only was there the challenge of the time change, but also the occurrence of what I hope is the last freeze of the year. We set our clocks forward, lost that hour and might have had the coldest morning of the year. That’s like killing two birds with a heavy stone, but we got through it. Now it’s onward to November 6. That’s when we get our hour back. I like that “fall back” better than I do the “spring forward.”