19. Clock

Finding ourselves checking the clock, we are aware of our relationship to time.

Time is too slow for those who wait
by Henry Van Dyke

Time is too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who love,
time is eternity.

When you are a little child, Christmas seems to take an age to arrive. When you are a parent, Christmas preparation time seems to fly by. It is apparent that time is both a static thing and an experience, and the clock measures it all for us.

Galatians 4:3-5

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Thinking about the idea of “fulness of time” makes me think that God has a particular type of clock by which He measures His plan.

Have you ever wondered what time it is by God’s clock now? We know Christ will come again, and perhaps it will be soon, while until then we have today. ““In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” is how Paul quoted Isaiah.

Long ago it was rare to own a clock, while today this is an everyday object in our homes. People were often dependent on the night watchman to tell important news and mark the “watches” of the night. The day and night were divided into watches, periods of time. A watchman was on duty during the nights for a certain section of time marked by the watches.

The Brittanica encyclopedia defines this as “an English town watchman or public musician who sounded the hours of the night. In the later Middle Ages the waits were night watchmen, who sounded horns or even played tunes to mark the hours. In the 15th and 16th centuries waits developed into bands of itinerant musicians who paraded the streets at night at Christmas time.”

How are we marking time and waiting in our lives? Are we redeeming time, or wasting it? We all wish to wise with our time, but what are ways that we might know we have been using our time for its best purposes? If we regret how the time is spent, there is no sooner time than now to change. Time spent caring, being kind, and paying attention to important people in our lives is never time wasted.

That might be what our clocks are telling us.

The carol for today is “Watchman, Tell Us of the Night”.

The Jesse tree ornament for today: “Habukkuk’s symbol is a watchtower because he was watching for the coming of the Babylonians, but he was also watching for the coming of the Messiah, who would rule with justice. ” Day 19