THE CURSE

The clock symbolizes our toilsome mortality. The inscribed verse confronts us with the consequence of our sin against God . It also reminds us of our origin:

"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:17-19).

Darkness and corrosion occupy the face of the clock. It symbolizes the result of our sin: cursed ground and broken fellowship with God. As a result, menacing thorns rise high from the ground representing hardships we must endure. The sprinkler symbolizes our desire for fertile soils and our attempt to bear fruitful lives. The spade as the pendulum represents the sweat of our labor. It tracks the course of our lives. The stilled clock reinforces our mortality: Death calls us back to the soil and ushers our souls into the presence of God, to whom we must give account.

Yet even in the midst of this sobering account, the sprinkler possesses a second meaning, one of hope: Christ is always in our midst. He is the living water who is ever present. He is able to wash away our sin and bring new life if we would but yield to him.

"The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecc 12:7).

"For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecc 12:14).