SPRINGING FORWARD: Adjusting Our Clocks Inside & Out
It’s Sunday morning. The alarm on my phone is filling the air of my bedroom and pulls me out of my peaceful dreams. How can it be time to wake up already? I wipe the sleep from my eyes, scan the room…it’s still dark outside. This can’t be right, I think. It’s too early for my alarm. Is this some kind of mistake? Did I set the time wrong last night? Why do I feel so out of sorts?
I look at my phone, but the time says 6:30 am. Time to rise and shine or rise and whine is more like it. Nope, the phone isn’t wrong; the time is correct. The calendar confirms it: Daylight Savings Time!
Yes, it’s that time again: one hour less of sleep on March 10 in exchange for an additional hour of daylight for the next few months. Daylight Savings: one-hour shifts from the morning, when people are more likely to be sleeping, to the evening when people are more likely to be active. Voila! Just like that, more time in the day.
In my reflections of this concept of having more time, I am reminded of the biblical distinction of time regarding the biblical words of chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to chronological or sequential time—the time of clocks and calendars that govern our daily schedules. Daylight Savings Time and chronos are a natural pair, changing the clock to help create more light for all the activities we humans try to squeeze into a day.
Kairos, on the other hand, represents a less tangible view of time. Instead of depending on daylight or the tick tock of the clock, kairos is about time that is special and meaningful, time spent creating experiences and making connections. Kairos focuses not so much on the amount of time in a life, but on the quality of the time spent in it.
That kairos point of view seems like one worth looking into, doesn’t it? Given the choice, I’m pretty sure God would much rather we spend our time and energy on one or two significant things instead of a dozen random ones that keep us constantly on the go.
After all, God is never in a hurry. A day is like a thousand years, and vice versa for Him, so there’s no rush. An hour one way or the other makes no difference to Him. His clock doesn’t depend on daylight.
“Be still,” He whispers. “Stop running around. Stop trying so hard. It’s not a race. It’s about quality, not quantity. Slow down, beloved. Make room for Me in your day.” I really like that!
Instead of using our extra time for more tasks we have an opportunity to use our time for more connection with our God and one another. So with that in mind, a day or two of discomfort is absolutely worth having more quality time!
Soli Deo Gloria!
