Categories: uncategorized
Date: 06 October 2005 22:27:22
Is not here yet. Despite the sun rising before 05:30. Letter writers to The Sydney Morning Herald have begun their whinging. Our New Zealand cousins have moved ahead. As have our Tasmanian brothers and sisters (meaning we now have four timezones, and by the end of the month will have five!) Yet we in New South Wales have not.
It does have benefits. I've been to the gym more often this week. When I wake up at 05:30, it's a bit easier to get to the gym. Perhaps we shouldn't move forward: for the sake of my fitness.
I wonder what it was like when your whole life was governed by the rising and setting of the sun. Activity stops at sunset, as you can't see, and resumes at sunrise. Perhaps most of the world is still like that: I'm quite lucky living in a city with electricity, water, sewerage and so on. It was strange living in Dublin during summer, when the daylight stretched well past 21:00 (if I recall correctly). At 20:00 it still felt like 17:00. It took a bit of getting used to.
The Orthodox Daily Prayer Cycle recalls the patterns of the sun. There are prayers at sunrise, at sunset, and at various points during the day. The idea of praying seven times a day, as expressed by the Psalmist, is still prevalent: though I admit I struggle with once a day. I look at our Muslim brothers and sisters who literally drop everything to pray at certain times and wonder why I am so lazy and so unable...or, probably, unwilling.
But, at least for the next few weeks, the rising early due to the sun (I sleep with my blinds open, and although my window faces west, the sun's reflection off the white-bricked house next door shines in brightly), I will, with God's help, be attempting to pray in the morning: at sunrise and at 07:00. And in the evening: when I get home and before bed. And, God willing, I do hope this may continue when our clocks roll forward...