Ringing the Bells

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack, a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in.

(Anthem by Leonard Cohen)

Yesterday on Easter Sunday, the bells were still ringing or perhaps I should say ringing again, after what seems like an eternity of silence.  Perhaps it was the sound of silence to call up another popular song.  There seems to be a defining sound of silence these days.  However, yesterday that silence was broken across Canada as the leader of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, called for the bells of Anglican churches to be rung at 9:00 a.m.   Lorna and I went over to St. James Anglican Church in Parkhill, Ontario and rang the bell – we only have one but that one rang out.  I hope that this let those within hearing distance recognized that this was the evidence that church bells still can ring even though church buildings have been closed for a month and we have not been gathering for worship. Before ringing the bell,  I prayed the collect prayer for Easter Morning and Lorna served as acolyte holding a candle:

Collect
Lord of life and power,
through the mighty resurrection of your Son,
you have overcome the old order of sin and death
and have made all things new in him.
May we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
reign with him in glory,
who with you and the Holy Spirit is alive,
one God, now and for ever.

Our offering of the bell ringing out was an offering even if it was not a perfect offering when compared to gathering together in worship especially on Easter Sunday.  We did not raise our voices together with those many beautiful Easter Hymns such as Jesus Christ is Risen Today, or Welcome Happy Morning.  However, we were able to tune in to the Easter Services on-line, of which there were many.  These were of varying quality as many clergy are using social media for the first time to make there worship available and, as one priest noted, he did not receive any training in how to do this in his theological studies.  However, as the great lyrics by Leonard Cohen state so wonderfully we need to forget our perfect offerings - all are acceptable to God. 

There is a deep truth in the song lyrics.  There are cracks in everything which have been made obvious at this time of self-isolation and quarantine.  We human beings do not easily embrace the cracks that appear in our lives whether it is in what we have believed is the foundation of our existence or even in our physical appearance – who is that old guy staring back at me in the mirror anyway?  However, perhaps in these days of COVID -19 we are beginning to see the light that is shining through those cracks.  We are beginning to really appreciate what is important and what is essential.  We can see that perhaps those people who are serving us and ensuring we have the necessities of life in this time of COVID-19 are the true heroes; the cleaners in the hospitals, the staff in the food stores, the truck drivers who are bringing the all the products to stock the shelves, the front line workers in hospitals and nursing homes.  All those who we now see as essential are so often the ones who are not compensated appropriately for people who are essential.  Perhaps there is some light shining through those cracks.

Blessings, stay well and keep the distance on this journey we are all on.