Croglin Clock

At the remote village of Croglin in Cumbria is a small and modest Victorian church. It is now redundant, the local denizens or local bishop deeming its open doors surplus to requirement. Nevertheless, it has one interesting feature: a rather charming clock, beneath which is an inscription.:

To the glory of God

In whose sight a thousand years

are but as yesterday.

This clock dedicated

1898

When we think of God’s timelessness, we tend to consider His knowledge of the future, and this offers us much comfort in a restless, erratic world. Yet the Croglin clock reflects on His intimate knowledge of the past. To our God, the life of David was but a few hours ago; the call of Abraham is perfectly fresh in His timeless mind. The Fall of Adam was no dim and distant memory, but a still painful wound inflicted upon the divine holiness.

There is a sense of this when we talk about sinners ’coming to the Cross’. The actual cross upon which the Saviour bled was reused as firewood or rotted away in the weeks or months after its fatal employment, yet we can still 'come' to it, by faith, any time we sin and repent. In its shadow we may sit and meditate; to its rough beams we may cling and mourn; in its bloody glory we may boast and marvel. God is the timeless One, the eternal, unchanging centre of the cosmos. He is not subject to ageing or decay, neither is He inclined to fads and fashions. The Croglin clock reminds us that the past is as familiar to God as the present and the future, in every respect, but one: our forgiven sins.

Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord. Psalm 25:7