Should We “Lock the Clock?”

I’m thankful that Donald Trump will return as president of the United States on January 20th. However, I don’t necessarily agree with one of his proposals. Trump has talked about eliminating Daylight Saving Time. Some experts claim that “springing forward and falling back” has negative health effects. Therefore, they advise we should “lock the clock.” I prefer to have more daylight hours in the evening to do street evangelism.

When I recently wrote about this on my social media pages, one man connected with me on LinkedIn replied, “I am sorry but other than more daylight the ill effects literally kill people and have no other positive benefits. Only harms. I would possibly support moving 1/2 an hour and leaving it alone permanently after that. The economic costs also outweigh the benefits. It is quite costly beyond people having more ill health and death from heart attacks and strokes and accidents. There is no positives beyond longer days, only negatives.”


I have difficulty believing longer days cause the health problems this guy mentioned. What about people’s diets? Many individuals would live longer if they cared for themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. 


Not everyone has jobs with the same hours every day. Doctors and first responders work varying shifts. Those who travel for a living, like truckers and flight attendants, go through different time zones. That affects their sleep patterns, but I’m sure they learn to adjust. For a few weeks in 1995, I had a job at a gas station that required me to be there from 11:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. I wasn’t accustomed to sleeping during the day but gradually got used to it.


Despite what happens with Daylight Saving Time, Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Let’s make the most of whatever time we have left on earth.


“redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” - Ephesians 5:16



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