The Bell Tolls

Alarm bells

Alarm bells have been going off in my head, and in my heart... 

For whom the bell tolls

Can you hear the bells still?

Last night, a family member set an alarm on a phone. This morning, the sound of repeated bell ringing in intervals, reminded me of a poem by John Donne, 

For Whom the Bell Tolls. 

Rather than getting up and turning the alarm off immediately, I let the bells chime. recalling my youth, and the ringing of church bells, calling people to attendance. The powerful bells could be heard near and far, beckoning the faithful to worship and prayer. 

Bells set to clocks chime the hour, 12 rings for 12 o'clock, 1 for 1 o'clock, you get the idea. Bells declare it is time and somehow in their deep ringing, there is resonance in the bodies of men. We hear them and sometimes pay no attention. When we hear them and notice, the questions follow:

• What time is it for me? 
• Is the bell, tolling for me? 
• What am I to pay attention to? 
• Is there something to notice, to be aware of, to discern? 
• Is it time? 
• Time for what? 
• Am I to be alarmed, or am I being called? 

The snooze option

Wake up, wake up and listen, says the bells. Interestingly, man has his ways of circumventing the call of the bells. Snooze buttons have been installed, and for the sleepy, those who would rather stay in slumber, the snooze option is used often. We have our ways, don't we dear reader, to hear and ignore, to notice and dismiss, to be called and to lay down and just go back to sleep.

The bell, it tolls for you

• How are you with getting older? 
• When you look in the mirror, do you see changes, to your face, your body?
• Where are your wrinkle lines and how did they get there? 
• Are you living the life you have been called to? 
• Does it show, landmarked, on your face? 
• Is time slipping away into one more day, and another, just one more day? 
• Have all the bells that call you to Him stopped ringing? 
• Can you hear them still, dimly, as they ring from a tucked under your pillow place? 
• Can you hear them Dear Reader? 

The bell, it tolls for you: it tolls for me. It does not say it is too late, because while there is yet breath in your lungs, and thoughts in your head, it never is dear one, to hear and heed the last call.

It is time, now... listen for the bells, they call and beckon. They ring for you.