December 29, 2012 (Saturday)
By the time we folks in the central U.S.A. experience the new year, twenty time zones in the world will have already experienced it. Every day gets its start way over yonder somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, roughly around Samoa. When you cross the International Date Line on Monday, moving west, suddenly it’s Tuesday. So, by the time you and I see the New Year make its appearance at midnight, Tuesday, it will have already been celebrated 20 times in other time zones. If you want to join those first celebrations around the globe, you will have to start at 4:00 a.m. Monday, our time.
Therefore, when you set off your fireworks, enjoy yourself even though you will be doing it 20 hours later than the folks in Samoa. Monday at 4:00 a.m. our local time marks the start of the new year in Samoa. Accordng to Rockport time, the new year will make its way toward us like this: 5am-New Zealand, 7am-Australia, 2pm-Moscow, 6pm-London, 9pm-Brazil, 10pm-Chile, 11pm-New York..
Beginning the new year next Tuesday gives us all an occasion to reflect upon our lives and to pray for divine wisdom and guidance in 2013. If we could travel fast enough, we could go around the world and make our midnight resolutions twenty-four times. All we would have to do is follow the sun. A better idea is to follow the Son.
HAPPY NEW YEAR