On my walk to work there is a stone column with a clock face. For weeks, I believed the clock did not function. Admittedly, I was looking at the clock when the sun was shining brightly on its face. On a cloudy day, I noticed that the rectangle at the hour mark was lit. Recently I went by the clock at dusk on the way home. As I glanced up, I noticed a small round dot of light. It marked the minute, and, in this light, the meaning was clear. In finally understanding how to read this clock, I heard Life whispers trying to get through to me.
The column and clock had always been on message, even when I did not see or understand. I had been unable to read the clock and yet time was always being shared. If the column and clock could do this relentlessly because they had no choice, I began to imagine what I could do with the choices I have in each moment.
As good as a partial message can be, it is in the details that one understands the full meaning. I had seen the hour, always wondering if there was more. When I finally saw the greater picture because of the details I appreciated the simplicity revealed by a small circle on a large face of stone and metal. As important as the big stuff is, in this case it took the smallest identifiable spot of the clock face to make the story complete.
I still wonder why it took me as long as it did to see the clock functioning. I had spent hours puzzling over what I could not see without taking the step to see what was always there. I listen to Peter’s old words; “God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all – life healed and whole.” (1 Peter 1.5) It seems my story of Divinity mirrors a stone column with an incomplete clock. There is much more to see and understand.
