Listen to the Sound of the Bells

Wednesday Wisdom. Listen to the Sound of the Bells.

I have always been drawn to the sound of church bells, to their ancient sound, to the way their ringing penetrates the air and settles in my heart. When I hear the tolling of these bells, I feel my entire being shaken; and I hear an invitation calling me to come inside, to abide and dwell more deeply within.

The sound of church bells have been inviting me inside since I was a child: into the Catholic church for Mass; into the house of God that resides in my soul; into my inner sanctuary and a quietness, where I am alone. Something in me stops at the sound of a sacred bell ringing—it’s a reminder, an invitation, a call.

For years now, I have used a small brass meditation bell before and after prayer and meditation, as a way to mark this sacred time. Each ring from this handheld bell has served an an invitation to enter into the holy place of my soul and allow intimacy with the Divine to unfold.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Psalm 98:4:

The rhythmic and reverberating bells are sacred and have called me many times into a holy encounter. In the last decade, I have made two retreats to the Abbey of Gethsemani, in Kentucky, and both times I noticed the way the constant ringing of the large bronze bells from the church tower created an outer rhythm to my days and nights, and an inner rhythm to my soul. I immediately abandoned myself to these resounding bells, following the daily routine of the Trappist monks, called to prayer by ringing bells seven times a day: the bells waking me up for the 3:15 am Vigils, and inviting me into the great silence after the 7:30 pm Compline.

Bells have been inviting me into a relationship with the Sacred for most of my life, both the bells I hear from church towers, and the bells I hear from my life. Every obstacle and passage of life that I face, every sorrow and joy that I feel, as well as every experience of emptiness and fullness that I encounter is a bell that’s calling me into an ever-deepening love relationship with the Divine.

Through listening to the bells, from the church towers and from my life, I have come to trust that the spiritual journey is about listening, awakening, and responding.

Listen to the bells in your life: your joys, pain, longings, desires. In the same way that you listen to the bells from church towers, hear the bells of your life ringing and calling you to come inside, to abide and dwell more deeply with God. Enter into the holy place of your soul, and allow intimacy to unfold.

Listen, the sound of the bell brings us back to our true self, a self that is not separate from God, a self that lives in union with divine love. It is a self that, as teacher and author James Finely describes it, “does not break faith with its awakened heart.” Let us hear the bells calling us into this ever deepening relationship.

 

Pause and Reflect:

• Can you hear the bell of your deepest desire, the longing in your soul?