Each hour is precious, even the one lost to Daylight Savings

On Sunday morning, at 2:00 a.m., we will lose an hour because we go to Daylight Savings Time. I got to thinking about the loss of that hour - that our Monday will be only 23 hours long.. Most of us will never miss it, unless we go to bed late and then up early the next morning! But an hour, 60 minutes, 360 seconds, may be priceless. When we figure our income, it is often based on an hourly rate; or when we are charged for guidance and counsel by an attorney, we pay based on the amount of time used. On the other hand, we know the value of an hour when we are sitting by the phone waiting for a call from a loved one; or looking at the clock at 2 a.m., waiting for our teenager to get home from a party. That 60 minute period may seem like an eternity! Not to be morbid, but when we are sitting at the bedside of a loved one whose life will soon be over, an hour may seem like such a short time. At the same time, sitting in church listening to a sermon may seem like such a long, long time!

If we had the choice of giving up one hour of our life, I wonder what experiences many of us would choose. I imagine it would contain some of the most painful moments of our lives. There's a saying, often attributed to Martin Luther, however, the first written evidence of this saying comes from 1944, so he probably did not say it, but the sentiment is good: "If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant an apple tree today." In other words, he would not have sat around wringing his hands - he would have used all of his time in a productive manner. Another saying, "You can't make time, you can only spend it," is true. We can save money or spend it, but time is linear and is equalized for everyone. Every second is available for our use, and once it is gone, we can never get it back.

That's the bad news, however, the good news is that we will regain this lost hour next fall when Daylight Savings Time ends and we return to our regular time and have a 25 hour Monday.

Then, we will have the option to consider how to spend that hour - whether we spend it poorly or spend it wisely. It will be our decision.