A Twenty-Five Hour Day

Last Sunday we got an extra hour.

A twenty-five hour day happens once a year.  Of course, in the spring we'll give that hour back and have twenty-three hour day in recompense.

It wasn't always this way in the Hoosier State.  When I moved to Indiana in the year 2000, it was still on "God's time," never changing clocks backwards or forwards -- just on Eastern Standard Time throughout the year.

Being from Ohio, it took awhile for me to get used to the concepts of "Fast Time" and "Slow Time."  Figuring out whether Louisville was on the same time as we were was pretty crucial to making sure that my patients arrived on time for their appointments (Louisville did spring forward and fall back).

Now, we have daylight savings and change like most of the rest of the country twice a year.

I have often wished for an extra hour in my day.  It just seems as though when paper work is piling up, or there are more patients to be seen than I can fit into my schedule, that an extra hour would be pretty handy.  At the same time, I have to ask myself what I did with the extra hour I was given last weekend.

I think that maybe I got a little more sleep than usual that night, so that is part of the hour.  I also took at least seven and a half minutes setting all of our clocks forward, so there is a little more of the hour.  But for the rest of it, I am not totally clear on what I did with it.  I know it is gone now, but I certainly didn't do anything particularly important or memorable with it.

The Book of Ephesians in the Bible tells us to "make the best use of the time, because the days are evil."  That is to say, we are to make sure that the things we do and accomplish with our time are worth the time we devote to them. 

This is a passage speaking about intentionality and purpose.  I will use up the time allotted to me each day, whether or not the things I do with it are worthwhile.  The only way I will use my time in a worthwhile way is if I plan to do so.

What would I do with a twenty-five hour day?  Exactly the same things I do with the twenty-four hour day I am given currently -- just a little more of them.

That's a scary thought -- if I am not intentional with how I am using my time right now.