Australian Thoughts at the Weekend. 12th September 2009

Australian Thoughts at the Weekend. 12th September 2009

It’s Time.

Have you ever seen someone look at their watch and then almost immediately asked them “what is the time?” Almost without fail they will look at their watch again before answering you.

May that is what St Augustine meant when he said “What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know."

It is that time of the year where I live in Australia where the debate rages on whether our State or part of it should have daylight saving. We did have some trial of daylight saving in the early 1970s. It was tried again in the early 1990s, but it was abandoned after a majority of Queenslanders voted against it in a 1992 referendum.

It continues to be a source of controversy, particularly in the highly populated south-eastern corner of the state which borders New South Wales, where daylight saving is observed. The effect of New South Wales having daylight is felt accutely on the Gold Coast which had its southern suburbs right on the border.

One of the problems Queensland faces is that it is a large State and with quite a difference between the tropical north and the populous south. The northern city of Cairns is as far from the State capital of Brisbane as Hobart, in Tasmania is. However a quick look at a map of Queensland shows that Cairns is not only north off Brisbane but is as far west as Charleville which most people would say is a western Queensland town.

Before I went to Charleville, which is 745 kilometres (460 miles) west of Brisbane, people used to look strangely at me when I said the most western town I had been to in Queensland was Cairns. They would tell me that Cairns is north of Brisbane not west. In fact, it is both. Cairns already has a sunrise and sunset later than Brisbane. Here are the sunrise and sunset times for today: Brisbane 5.49am and 5.39pm; Charleville 6.16am and 6.07pm and Cairns 6.15an and 6.12pm. Here is a map of Queensland: http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/property/mapping/pdf/qld_a4_map_free.pdf


Many people remember the debate which raged in the early 1970s. There were many who claimed the extra hour of sunlight would fade the curtains. Others claimed, maybe with their tongue firmly in their cheek, that it would upset the cows who would not know when to come in for milking. Even others claimed that the extra hour of sunshine would make it even hotter in our already hot summer.

I was not living in Queensland when the trial of daylight saving was in place in the early 1970s as I was in Sydney where the trial also was held. I do not remember much about it other than the debate. However, I had moved to the country town of Forbes by the time permanent daylight saving was adopted in 1972 in New South Wales along with Victorria and South Australia who joined Tasmania which already had it.

The people of Forbes were divided in their opinions of daylight saving. Some loved it and took every advantage it offered. Others proclaimed they hated it and tried to maintain a dual time system in their head. Some kept their watches and clocks on what they called “proper time”.

Our Corps Sergeant Major, a lovely older lady, was very clear when she gave her announcements. She gave times in both daylight saving time and proper time. So her announcemet went sometthing like “We have a special meeting on Tuesday night with the Divisional Commander. It will start at 7pm daylight time and 6pm proper time.”

These were the days before Corps newsletters and announcement sheets, so it was not unusual for people to come an hour early for meetings because they could not remember whether it was 6pm daylight or proper time. On a couple of occasions people arrived two hours early bcause they were totally confused.

I read somewhere that people use old fashioned clocks and watches because there is something about watching hands sweep around the face marking off the seconds, minutes and hours rather than a digital clock just flicking over as the seconds or minutes pass. I thinmk there is somethimng special about old style clock cases and they seem to fit into all ytypes of décor, modern as well as heritage.

Years ago, a Major who is now a retired Commissioner decided to give us a lecture on the relationship of time and eternity. I don’t remember who ended up the most confused, himself or his listeners. One of the listeners, when the opportunity was given for questions, suggested that time was only a cailbration of a section of eternity. When he was asked to clarify what he meant, he said that a watch, a clock, or even a calendar was man made and just a device for counting of a part of eternity in which the person was living. The Major decided it was tiem to sing a song and close in prayer.

Back in 1972, the year that permanent Daylight Saving was adopted by four States, The Australian Labor Party adopted the theme “It’s Time” for its national election campaign. It was time for change, they maintained from the conservative government who had been in power for many years. “It’s time” became a well known phrase and is probably one campaign slogan which is easily brought to mind from the history of elections.

The Leader of the ALP, Mr Gough Whitlam pushed the phradse wherever he went and at every oportunity. While on the campaign he visted one town, where the crowds had gathered to hear him. A group of Scouts appeared out of the crowd and one of them handed Gough a bunch of plants. Gough looked puzzled and said “what’s this?”
The Scouts in unison replied “It’s Thyme”.

Ecclesiastes 3 (The Message)
There's a Right Time for Everything
1 There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

2-8 A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
9-13 But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I've had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he's left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he's coming or going. I've decided that there's nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That's it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It's God's gift.
14 I've also concluded that whatever God does, that's the way it's going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God's done it and that's it. That's so we'll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.
15 Whatever was, is.
Whatever will be, is.
That's how it always is with God.
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