Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, September 17, 2023
I’m sharing this story with my husband’s permission. I thought I should ask him, because the story doesn’t shine a good light on either one of us, except that we meant well.
It was Sunday morning, and we had breakfasted and walked and were ready for some yard work. First up, trimming the hedges in our front yard. There are several and it’s always a big task to shape them evenly, but we had our electric hedge trimmer to speed us on our way. We planned to take turns with the trimming, which turned out to be a good idea. That way, neither one of us could chide the other for what happened.
Whichever one of us started trimming was doing a splendid job until suddenly the cord got in the way and the hedge trimmer started trimming the cord instead of the hedge. We unplugged the tool and my husband spliced and taped the cord.
Then the other one of us resumed the trimming, and was also doing a splendid job until suddenly the cord got in the way again, close to the first accidental slice, and after we recovered from seeing that we could do repeat damage in such a short span of time, my husband did more splicing and taping.
We proceeded very cautiously, one of us becoming cord manager and taking full responsibility for keeping the cord away from all trimming action. With this team approach we finished the job, swept up the trimmings, and called it a morning. A very humbling morning.
Here’s what I think happened (because there had to be a reason behind such double damage done by two usually competent adults who were already acquainted with hedge trimming): I told you it was Sunday, but it wasn’t just any old Sunday; it was the spring morning when Daylight Saving Time started.
Each fall and spring, just like clockwork, the media warn us of the dangers of switching on and off Daylight Saving Time. A quick search will bring up a plethora of articles detailing why this is so. One article posted on the AARP website lists “Five Surprising Ways Daylight Saving Time Affects Your Body”: 1) Higher risk of heart attack and stroke, 2) Impaired decision-making, 3) Difficulty with memory and focus, 4) Appetite changes and cravings, and 5) Increased irritation.*
So we no longer operate equipment, large or small, when Daylight Saving Time begins or ends. Nor do we sign important legal documents on that day! We cut ourselves slack, so we don’t cut anything else.
Last Sunday we got out the hedge trimmer and used the team approach to trim all our hedges, safely and serenely. We kept in mind that accident-prone Sunday of a few years back. Even if we tried to forget it, the black tape wound around the orange cord would remind us.
And yes, as I stared down at that cord on the driveway, it reminded me of Jesus.
Although it was no accident that He ended up on a cross, suffering the humiliation of a condemned criminal’s death. As the song says, “He chose the nails, so that we could go free.” Through all eternity we will not forget His sacrifice, spelled out forever in the nail prints He wears. Spelling the word, LOVE, all caps.
His death should break our hearts, even as it mends our souls.
*5 Surprising Ways Daylight Saving Time Affects Your Body (aarp.org)