Arinto is part of the "Eastern Standard Tribe," who live in a world where circadian rhythms are ignored, then forgotten. She lives in a world out of step and out of sync in a rhythm of her own. When the sun rises over the Hudson River, bringing another New York business day, Arinto is dressed, ready and at her Manila desk. She works "the graveyard shift" to sell to "the daylight shift" of American business.
Whatever Arinto gains by living this way, whatever she loses, one thing is certain - for her, and those like her, life is never the same. She lives according to a new rhythm.
Arinto is part of a new international movement of companies with a global reach made up of executives, bilingual customer services reps and all-night gamers who, in order to earn a living, or have some fun, set their clocks to Eastern Standard Time.
The computer support person you call on Tuesday using an 800 number doesn't live in Silicon Valley, or North America, or even the Western Hemisphere! He lives in Bombay, India, where it's already Wednesday. To keep time with his work, he sleeps with the sun and rises with the stars.
Simultaneously, it's day to you; it's night to him; he lives in your tomorrow; and you in his yesterday - yet you're both at work. Eastern Standard Tribe members choose to set their clocks according a different standard. They live out of step with their culture, with an eye on a world out there, valuing what they cannot see - like Abraham.
Abraham lived like that. He lived with an eye on a world out there, valuing what he could not see. His circadian rhythm was set according to a different clock, a higher time zone, one to which he was connected, with whom he communicated long-distance, but regularly, talking and listening to God.
When Abraham decided to set his clock to D.S.T. (Divine Standard Time), perhaps he didn't know the disruption it would cause in his life. He moved the entire clan away from their home, embarking on a perilous journey to an unknown destination, with sheep, tents and slaves. This happened not once, but twice. First, to Canaan to settle there at the Lord's direction. Later, during a famine, he was forced to move his family down to Egypt. Living on DST, Abraham had to strap in and hang on to a new rhythm to life.
He also found that there would be wars and prosperity, alliances and lies, mistakes and successes, births and deaths, jealousies and laughter, and promises - promises made by God to Abraham, that if he would live by faith's rhythm, rising in God, sleeping in God, breathing and eating and everything in God, then the Lord would make him the father of nations, whose children would number as many as the grains of sand in a desert, as many as the stars in the night sky.
Abraham agreed to live by Divine Standard; to live according to his faith in God. He lived a long, long time without God's promise being fulfilled. But he stuck it out. He trusted. He kept the faith, believing the Lord would keep his promise.
Which begs the question: How does one find his or her faith rhythm? Our natural rhythms come from signals such as the sun, light and darkness. Recall the emotional relief, when after days of rain, drizzle and gray skies, the sun breaks through to shine again. Our spiritual pace is likewise developed in concert with symbols of light and darkness. Spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation, reading, worship and experiencing life in a community of faith are crucial for the development of a strong sense of DST. We say in our Lutheran tradition that the Word of God is our rule for FAITH and Life.
Granted, Abraham's life was not an untroubled one, simply because he had developed a faith rhythm that generally kept his life in sync with God. He found trouble in Canaan when a famine came. He courted trouble in Egypt with the Pharaoh. There were problems with Lot, his nephew, and the Sodom and Gomorrah thing, and then the time when he got ahead of God by having his first son with Hagar the maid. Abraham had his share of troubles, but he had adventures, opportunities, happiness and possibilities, too, because he lived on Divine Standard Time, sticking to the rhythm of his faith.
This is what happens to us when we listen to the faith rhythms in our lives. We're transported to new places, new opportunities, new possibilities - not without difficulties or troubles, of course, but ultimately we discover a life that is rewarding, fulfilling and sustaining.
I'm not sure the executive committee realized what happened at their meeting last Wednesday evening. They were looking for some good judgment and direction. We talked of praying and in the prayers we were taken in the direction of answers for the questions that were just asked.
So set your clock by God's time, DST. Join the time zone of Abraham and Sarah, of Mary and Joseph, and of Jesus Christ and countless saints through the ages, who learned, who lived, according to a new faith rhythm decreed by God.
They all found new life by moving with the new rhythms of God. Trust God. Live fully and committed in the DST zone. You won't be alone there - God, and heaven's host, will be with you.