Matthew 24:36: “About that day (of Jesus’ return )or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

 I don’t know if you’ve ever owned or been around a grandfather clock that chimes the hour. We’ve had one for a long time. It’s a beautiful instrument, with a cherry case and a cool dial that shows the phases of the moon. I’m not sure what to do with a knowledge of the moon’s phases, but it’s there if I need it. I stopped wearing a watch a while back, but found I can tell the hour from the chimes, which I can hear all over the house. (The clock can chime on the quarter hour as well, but we only use the hourly chime. There’s such a thing as too much chiming.)

When we first brought the clock into the house and I heard it chime for the first time, I was impressed by the full, rich sound. I thought the chimes would be metal tubes about an inch and a half in diameter and three or four feet long at most. When I looked into the back of the clock, I was surprised to find that the chimes were not tubes, but rather metal rods the diameter of a pencil, and eighteen inches long.. When struck, they reverberated in the hollow body of the clock, which amplified and reinforced the sound. I realized then that even if the clock maker wanted to use tubes, there wouldn’t have been room. It’s all a matter of reverberation, echoes and overtones.

I was thinking that we as Christians are like the rods in our clock. By ourselves, we aren’t much, but if God is present in our lives, we can call on the power of God to accomplish God’s will and do great things. Our good deeds and loving attitude can ring out like chimes, letting the world know that God is great and God is love. Thanks be to God for multiplying our efforts and allowing us to ring out the Good News wherever we are and wherever we may go. Amen.