Signs for the Seasons

“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.” –Genesis 1:14-19 (ESV). He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.” –Psalm 104:19 (ESV).

“Spring forward! Fall back!” These are not commands for some military maneuver, but directions for how to set the clock when Daylight Saving Time change rolls around on the calendar. Now (in 2015 and since these dates became effective in 2007) the time for fall change (roll back one hour) is 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November and the spring (move forward one hour) change is on the second Sunday in March at 2:00 a.m. Electronic devices are set to change automatically. It is hardly practical that anyone would stay awake to make the changes right on the minute of occurrence of time change.

The history of the time change is intriguing. If you are interested, I recommend that you seek out and read the story of how the phenomenon of Daylight Saving Time evolved. The history will reveal that the hurdle to change the time has met obstacles. From religious antagonism to secular displeasure and disregard, the idea to change time has met with opposition. We “set-in-our-ways” people don’t like changes that go against “what we are accustomed to.” And time seems so set. As we read in Genesis, God got time just right on the fourth day of Creation. He set day and night. Each was ruled by its own special light: the sun for day, the moon for night. And He saw that the way He had created it was very good.

“So then, when there is a good thing going, why change it?” argue those who may be irked and whetted while getting used to an hour’s change in time spring and fall. A writer for “Snopes” wrote this comment: “The purpose of the shift (to Daylight Saving Time) is to transfer, in effect, an hour’s worth of daylight from the early morning hours of the day, when only milkmen and chickens are awake to appreciate it, and use it to push back sunset until one hour later in the day. This arrangement is claimed to cut electricity usage in the evening and help reduce traffic accidents.” (http://www.snopes.com/science/daylight.asp. Accessed 10.31.2015.)

In this new month and in the beginning of this winter season’s Daylight Saving Time change, may we, as the Psalmist, rejoice that from the beginning of Creation God has faithfully brought day and night, light and darkness, sunset and sunrise. Indeed, we can say with the Psalmist, “He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting” (Psalm 104:19). Furthermore, we can declare with positive faith as did the Psalmist: “My times are in Your hand” (Psalm 31:15a), and, assuredly, “This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24).  

-Ethelene Dyer Jones November 1, 2015