DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME, SMART CLOCKS, AND TERRORISTS

Last Sunday, we changed our clocks to move one hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.  I like Daylight Saving Time, but it can be confusing.  For example, a church bought a lot of donuts on Time Change Sunday for the members who would arrive an hour early because they forgot to change their clocks.  There were many who forgot to change their clocks, but they all arrived an hour late. 

One Christmas years ago, my daughter gave  me a smart clock.  When the time change Sunday came, I followed my normal routine to set my clock ahead one hour before I went to bed.  At 2 a.m., the “smart clock” set itself ahead another hour.  I arrived at the church two hours early.  When I shared with the congregation how early I had arrived, a deacon joked, “That is what happens when you give a smart clock to a guy who is not so smart.”

In 1999, some terrorists from the West Bank were confused by the time change.  I found this story on a website about Daylight Saving Time. (http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/k.html  “The West Bank was on Daylight Saving Time while Israel had just switched back to standard time. West Bank terrorists prepared time bombs and smuggled them to their Israeli counterparts, who misunderstood the time on the bombs. As the bombs were being planted, they exploded–one hour too early–killing three terrorists instead of the intended victims–two busloads of people.”

Psalm 31 is special because Jesus quoted from v. 5 when he died on the cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”  This psalm is also special because it reminds us that we can trust in God in confusing and changing times.   David wrote in Psalm 31:14-15a, “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands.”