This past Sunday morning at 2 am, we all turned our clocks back one hour to return to “Standard Time”, and hopefully we all gained an hour of sleep or reading, or maybe you stayed out an hour longer, or decided to save that hour for a day of your choice. It is a peculiar mandate to turn clocks back or forward to save energy or daylight, and it creates confusion in our homes and at church. Some people arrived an hour late for Sunday services and realized they forgot to change their alarm clock. My satellite alarm clock turned itself back the previous weekend (the older pattern). I probably used up some of that extra hour readjusting every watch and clock at home, work or in the car. Turning clocks forward or backward supports our illusion that we have control over time.
We don’t actually have any control over time, but how we use it makes all the difference to us and to God. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3.1
When I am really busy and doing what seems like something worthwhile, I remember the saying, “Time flies when you are having fun”. But when I am standing in long line at a store, or put ‘on hold’ when calling a business, or caught in traffic, time seems wasted and I say to myself, “Well, that’s time I’ll never get back!”. When I am hungry and watching the seconds wind down on the microwave oven as it heats my lunch, time seems to move too slowly. But when I visit someone whose life is being shortened by tragic accident or terminal illness, every second counts. We all value time because we know that our days are limited and their exact number unknown, and so we make judgments on our use of it, depending on whether we are able to get what we need or want. We should meditate on what God is showing us in those moments when time seems wasted or moving too slowly; and we should linger in those moments when time is fleeting and we catch a glimpse of Christ in the light of someone’s face.
Peace, Carol
God has promised that time will not cease:
As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. Genesis 8:22
And when there are times of trouble, remember that
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in the time of trouble. Psalm 37.39
Be patient as you wait for an acceptable time,
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. Psalm 69.13
While waiting, ponder
Whoever obeys a command will meet no harm, and the wise mind will know the time and way. Ecclesiastes 8.5
The Daily Cup 
I like the “Fall Back” time change. People will probably be an hour early to church. Pumps up attendance for the 8:15 service or parishoners may be a little late to the 8:00 service. Reminds me of the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds when I see or hear the verses from Ecclesiastes 3.