Bells

I was raised in a denomination, the Presbyterian Church. I have to confess that there are two things about that church that I miss: some of the special services (Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Good Friday, Easter) and bells. Yup...bells. One of the things that I love to hear at times are church bells. Sometimes they ring to call people to worship services. Other times they ring to mourn the passing of an individual. Some are designed to play a song, usually a church hymn, with the different tones of the bells. Other times they ring to celebrate good news throughout the country or region.

I love the sound of church bells, expecially in a small community. When I worked in Jourdanton my office was in the basement of the courthouse. Each day at noon, if I did not go home for lunch, and at 5:00 pm I would open my window to listen to the bells of St. Matthew's Catholic Church beal the time. For some reason this is very comforing to me.

At the presbyterian church, the bell hung from a small frame that passed for a bell tower directly over the church office. There was a rope that hung down through the roof, through the attic and then through the ceiling of the office. It was a privilege to ring that bell and there were several of us who made a mad dash to the office after Sunday School to get there first so as to ring the bell. It was, however, always done under the supervision of an adult. You had to pull the rope two or three times before the bell would chime and then we were only allowed to let it ring six times. So there was an art to get it started and then to finish without going over the alloted number of gongs. Why six and why that magic number I never knew.

Wlnston Churchill used the bells in British churches and community halls to notify the citizenry of a victory in battle during World War II. On one occassion, he did not allow the bells to ring and held them back for four days so that they could celebrate two battle victories at once and let the beals ring out extra long as they were great victories.

Bells have been used by other organizations to do alot of these same things. Fire stations, cemetaries, city halls, ships, diners... The bottom line is that bells are and have been used to bring our attention to some important event.

We sing a song..."Ring It Out". It speaks of sharing the message of Christ with others to both "the sinful and the sad" to "give them courage new". Bells, when they are in tune, are sharp and clear and there is no mistaking the sound. God's word cannot be anymore clear than it is in telling us about our relationship with Him. We must be willing to share and share alike with others the good news of salvation. There must not be any mistaking of the message. We must be true to our calling.

What are your thoughts...share with me.