My Grandfather's Clock

A number of  years ago, I did a little remodeling with the assistance of some wonderful friends from church, Rosemary and Lee Martin. For two Spring Breaks in a row, Rosemary took me to IKEA and helped me pick out some furniture. They also came over to help put it together! One new piece was a bookcase and on the third shelf sits something very dear to me which you can read about below. This entry ran July 4, 2007, only four weeks before Dad had the stroke which eventually cost him his life.

I've been sleeping on the living room couch during this trip to my parents' home. Dad is having back problems that have interfered with his ability to care for Mom. By having the sofa double as a bed, I am within earshot if they should need my assistance, as they have on several occasions. Comfort is no problem but there has been a wrinkle in the system. Dad has two mantle clocks on opposite sides of the living room . One was a present from a family after Dad preached their loved one's funeral in west Texas. The other was a wedding gift from my Hawley grandparents to each other eighty-five years ago. Incredibly for very old clocks which are wound by hand, they have been almost synchronized. They also chime very loudly on the hour. So, each midnight right when I am deep in my REM sleep mode, twenty-four chime blasts reverberate next to my place of rest, jerking me back to the land of the conscious...or maybe semi-conscious. At least at one AM, there are only two gongs. By four AM, I am impervious and don't wake. It might take weeks for my sleep patterns to recover. Dad wants me to rewind both time pieces before I return to Houston. I might just wait until I am walking out the door!

At the risk of sounding like I'm exaggerating, those clock bells sound like the percussion section of a philharmonic orchestra. But without measuring the decibels, I'm sure they are just as loud in the morning or afternoon. I rarely even hear them during my non-sleeping hours. Why do they make no impression at times but in different circumstances seem overpowering? Sometimes I am tuned in and sometimes I am so distracted, the chimes just don't register. Do we ever feel that way in our relationship with the Lord? Does the word of God get louder and softer or does our listening intensity alternate between waning and focused? Does his voice get softer and louder or do we turn the volume up and down on our spiritual remote control? I have felt closer to the Lord this past ten days, perhaps because our family was dealing with a crisis. Maybe it has just been easier for him to get my attention with issues swirling around. He has my full attention now. I hope I let him keep it.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Our brains are seventy year clocks. The Angel Of Life winds them up once for all, then closes the case and gives the key into the hand of the Angel Of The Resurrection."
Oliver Wendell Holmes

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com