Clock face in bright sky
Dateline: August 2026
Congress is moving toward making Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent. At this writing, the Sunshine Protective Act has passed the House of Representatives and is now on the plate of the Senate. There is plenty of research that supports permanent DST, and plenty of research that does NOT support permanent DST. My question is, “How in the world can we save daylight?”
I refer you to the Jim Croce hit song, “If I Could Save Time in a Bottle.” As far as I know, Croce was not a scientist. But he had the common sense to know that time can’t be saved.
The Old Testament records two times when time stopped or reversed. One was in the book of Joshua. Joshua was leading the Israelites in battle to take over the city of Gibeon. Joshua prayed to G_d for the sun and the moon to stand still. According to scripture, time stopped for nearly a day so that the Israelites could win the battle in daylight, which they decisively did. Second, in Isaiah 38:8 G_d moved time back “ten steps” so the prophet Isaiah could heal King Hezikiah of a terminal illness.
In both of these cases, G_d was the one who stopped and/or turned time around. Now Congress appears poised to attempt to usurp divine power for the convenience of humanity in the good ol’ USA.
DST was first used in Canada in 1908. The USA first adopted it in 1918, went back to “natural” time in 1966, then became today’s alternating version in 2007. During all that time, I am not aware of either the sun or the moon paying any attention whatsoever to any laws the USA has enacted to “manage” them.
I can’t help but chuckle.
In 1964 The Beatles released George Harrison’s song, “I’ll Follow the Sun,” followed in 1969 by his song, “Here Comes the Sun,”He sings, “Tomorrow may rain, so I’ll follow the Sun.” I think George was extremely wise in this song, that seems to state that the best course in life is to follow the Sun, not have the Sun following us.
Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote the B.J. Thomas hit “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” which included the line, “I just did me some talkin’ to the Sun, and I said I didn’t like the way he got things done.”Do you think the Sun cared one whit about that? And do you think the Sun changed its course because of Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”?
It seems ludicrous to even suggest we can change time to suit our preferences. I see this as one more way American culture seeks to make the universe conform to us rather than us conforming to it. Here’s a startling fact: we earthlings are not the center of the universe. Copernicus discovered that around 1515.
The 1950 film, Cheaper by the Dozen (NOT the Steve Martin remake) tells the true story of an efficiency expert. The father finds every way possible for his family to use less time in daily living. For example, he taught his children how to bathe during the time it took for a song to play on their record player. The father knew better than to try to control time. He was extremely innovative, however, in controlling how he and his family used time as it is.
Can we alter our circadian rhythm? I suppose it could be done, but changing our sleep cycle twice a year pretty much negates the evolution of such a change. Think teenagers. Credible research shows that it’s natural for older children and teens to sleep later in the mornings and stay awake later at night. Because of their trust in science, many schools have changed their schedules so students can sleep a little later and grades have risen.
We can easily change our clocks, thus controlling how we measure time, but changing time itself is impossible—an illusion of control, and time goes marching on. We are not in charge. So let’s just get on board and conform to the Universe rather than try to get the Universe to conform to us. Contrary to what the Rolling Stones sang, time is not on our side.
…and that’s the View Beyond The Balcony.
Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Certified Telemental Health Provider, Certified Shamanic Life Coach, ordained minister, singer-songwriter, actor, and writer.
About the Author
