Timepiece

It is my Monday morning ritual.
A ritual that is disrupted whenever our family is on vacation.
The consistency is important.
It matters.

To many, winding my clocks may seem trivial and unimportant.
To me, it is a wonderful way to start my week.
The sound of the clicks as I use the special key to wind them, is somehow comforting.
The same key that has been used for years, ever since I was expecting my first child.

The mantle clock is a Pennsylvania House clock.
My husband and I had purchased furniture for our dining room.
I remember seeing a Pennsylvania House catalog in the furniture store.
This clock was pictured on the back.

I always loved the sound of Westminster chimes.
My husband must have seen my face as I looked at the picture.
He added the clock to our purchase.
The clock would arrive long after the furniture was delivered.

I waited in anticipation for my mantle clock.
The clock with the brass plate inside the back panel with Gallagher, 1983 engraved on it.
1983: two years after we were married and the year I became pregnant with our first child.
Somehow that seemed appropriate.

The promised date for the clock’s delivery had come and gone.
A delay in shipping, and then continued assurance that the clock would arrive.
I was still working at the time until the sixth month of my pregnancy.
On a day, when my husband happened to have off, the clock arrived.

I came home to see the clock sitting on the mantle.
It fit perfectly.
The sound of the Westminster chimes filled the house.
I was waiting for my timepiece as I was waiting for my child.

That clock has marked the years since 1983.
Only once has it been to a clockmaker for repair; more of a fine-tuning really.
How I missed it while the clock was in his shop.
How incredibly quiet the house seemed.

It is funny to see the reaction of small children who hear the clock for the first time.
There is usually an audible gasp as they turn their head towards the chiming sound.
They will walk over to the mantle and look up.
They will stand there until the chiming has finished.

I love the sound of the clock during the night.
It is comforting, as I count the chimes to know the time.
My clock is not background noise.
It is an integral part of our family life.

The chiming can be heard in the background when I’m on the phone.
The chiming can be heard in the background of family videos.
The clock is frozen in time in various pictures in front of our fireplace.
The clock has been a faithful watchman as it marks our life on the quarter hour.

One anniversary, my husband gave me a grandfather clock.
It sits in our dining room.
It has the same wheat design carved on the top that is etched on my chandelier glass.
Its pendulum swings faithfully back and forth, keeping time, marking the moon phases.

God created time.
God created time for us.
God doesn’t need time since He always was, always is, and always will be.
To God, everything is in the now.

We mark our life in terms of time.
We use our planners and our calendars; we set alarms and updates on our phone.
We see time as something we manage.
We see time as something we can control.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a tine for war and a time for peace…He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity into the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,11)

There is a time for everything.
God numbers our days.
There is more than enough time to get everything done that He wants us to accomplish.
God has set eternity in our hearts.

The restlessness we feel here is because we were made for there.
We were made for the Garden that was perfect.
The Garden where there was direct fellowship with God.
God made time so that there could be a fullness of time.

The fullness of time when His Son, Jesus was born.
Fully God and fully man, born into time.
Once He was outside of time, now He is in time in all its fullness.
Time that was created for us to mark the seasons, suddenly included the Maker of time.

How does eternity step into time?
How does God come down into human flesh and live a finite number of days?
How does the Creator become a creature, yet remain the Creator?
How does the Word become the wordless Infant?

God determines the appointed time.
God decides the fullness of time.
God knows the time is near.

Seek the Lord  while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

It is time to seek the Lord.

2 responses to “Timepiece”

1. Another great post! It seems so many people, especially young ones, think they have plenty of time for God and religion “some day”. They don’t realize that He may end their time here at any point and they won’t be ready. NOW is the time!

   Reply

   • Sue,
     You are so right: NOW is the time.
     What a comfort to know that God is Sovereign and in control of all things and outside of time. We are in good hands.
     What an awesome God we serve.
     Gina

     Reply