This weekend we will “spring ahead,” stealing an hour’s sleep and causing some to set two alarms – just to be sure they’re at church on time! I count myself as one of the many who grumble about the disruption to our sleeping and waking. As I age, I often wrestle with my circadian rhythms! However, the return of Daylight Savings Time also brings me to a place of gratitude as I welcome lengthier periods of light in each day. 

I am most productive in the first hours of the morning. My mind is clear, my thoughts seem to connect in ways that make sense to me – and to the people I am in communication with. I tend to “see” the world with sharper eyes in the daylight hours. 

Light opens me to the world; darkness closes it down. 

My eyesight is now at a point where I struggle with nighttime driving. I am fine in well-lit places, and roads that I know. But Maine is a state full of roads without light poles and faded white guidelines alongside the pavement’s edge. There is a definite correlation with the aging of my eyes, and the visual challenges I live with.

This weekend will begin the time when I can drive further and stay longer. 

Holy One, you have made us people of your light. We pray for the light of your company. We pray for the light of your loving presence. We pray to know new ways to see you in our world. We pray in gratitude to move about freely in this created order.