Return of the tick and tock

For many years I nursed an unfulfilled desire to own a grandfather clock.  Grandfather clocks always seemed to me to be rather stately pieces of furniture.  The hope of one day having one in my home and enjoying its regular melodic chiming was something which I carried in my heart.  Having said that, I couldn't see how the hope would ever be fulfilled, especially bearing in mind how much grandfather clocks can cost!

A few years ago Sue and I were in Scarborough, and we happened to call in at the local auction house.  Standing proudly along one wall was a grandfather clock.  It was just a fairly modern version, but I was drawn to it.  Having received permission from my other half, I bid for the clock and managed to be successful in obtaining it for a very reasonable price.  We managed to carefully transport it back to Doncaster, and after some minor attention from a clock repairer it served us well for several years.  I loved to hear the Westminster chimes (though my children didn't share my appreciation and whenever they visited our house they tended to switch the clock to silent mode!)

Of course, clocks can be delicate instruments, especially large grandfather clocks.  When the time came to leave Doncaster and move down to Leicester I was a little concerned about how the clock would react.  When the removal men delivered the clock and set it in place on our new home it looked to be in good shape.  However, since the day it arrived I have never been able to get it working properly!  Whenever I have tried, it has ticked and tocked a few times and then lapsed into silence.  It has still been an attractive piece of furniture but without fulfilling its intended purpose.

Earlier this week some friends came round, one of whom happened to have an interest in old clocks. I took the opportunity to ask him if he would have a look at our non-functioning grandfather clock.  It took him just a couple of minutes to work out what the problem was.  The clock was not level; the slight slope meant that the pendulum could not swing evenly, and this prevented the clock from working as it should.  A couple of coasters positioned underneath one side of the clock soon put it back on the level, and off it merrily ticked and tocked!   I was even able to listen to those wonderful chimes for the first time since our arrival in Leicester in 2012 (mind you, we have our elder daughter staying with us at the moment so I have had to turn them off for a time!)

When my friend was explaining the problem to me, he asked if I had a spirit-level so that we could check whether the clock was now in a true level.  I was reminded of the passage in the Old Testament book of the prophet Amos where Amos has a vision of the LORD standing with a plumbline in his hand.  God says to Amos of the plumbline, 'I am using it to show that my people are like a wall that is out of line.'   

God had looked at the lives of his people and seen that they were not on a firm foundation; they were on the lean, like a wall that is out of line (or like my grandfather clock).  Just as my grandfather clock could not function when it was not on the level, so we human beings cannot live the kind of lives for which we were created unless our lives are in line with God's plans and purposes for us.  I had tried several times to get the clock working, but had failed to notice that it was off the level.  It can be difficult for us to see when our own lives are out of line.  Just as I relied on my friend to point out the problem, so we need to see our lives through God's eyes to see the true picture.  So how do our lives line up when they stand against God's plumbline?