We need more bells (no, not cowbells…)
This early morning...January 31, 2026... it is still dark and very cold here in Cleveland…the temp is -4 degrees. Per my usual morning practice, I am sitting in my home office and interacting with my two laptops as I listen to Gregorian chants via my headphones. I was deep in the place I go as I am reading and typing, when I am called out of that place by the sound of bells in my ears. The Gregorian chant channel that I was listening to was now playing the music that is linked here:
Bells.
I stopped what I was was doing…and just listened. Listening to “just bells”? Yep.
Next to my window is a string of tiny bells that has been there since 2008. A year of transition for me. My experience with the Gregorian bells just now reminded me of a blog post that I wrote years ago about bells. I have reposted it here. It is as true now, actually more so, than it was then.
I feel as though the entire world needs to simultaneously hear a few minutes of just bells. Stop…listen…pay attention. Maybe that would cause a reset for humanity. Maybe that simultaneous DNA-deep resonance of creation would stop the hate and fear and killing.and suffering and evil. Maybe when the end comes for this world, and if it is the ultimate reunion with the Creator…maybe it will be heralded with bells. Just imagine.
Feb 5th 2009
Last Fall I spent a week at a retreat at Omega in upstate NY. I brought back a string of tiny silver bells attached to a green woven cord...if I remember correctly, they were from India.
I hung them from a hook in the ceiling of my living room. Every morning for about 2 months I would strike the bells with my hand as I walked past, just to briefly remind me of the retreat. They have a very high pitched sound, similar to wind chimes. Recently, I've gotten out of that ritual, except to deliberately strike them at times when I felt joyful.
This morning, I felt drawn again to the ritual...this time, I stood there and just got quiet...which led to a need to hear the bells more than once. I felt centered...all the usual chaotic morning thoughts just stopped. I turned this day over to God...and I said "thank you" for things recently that I am grateful for...for the good news that a friend received about the disease that blind-sided her husband, and for seeing how she and her family felt God's grace...for two books I recently received from two friends, one book written by a Mormon about the peaceful message brought by Jesus and the other book written by a Baptist minister describing his 90 minutes in heaven...If you think about it, that is what bells do...in some way, throughout time, they have been used to say "pay attention"...from the town crier to the consecration at Catholic mass. I think that is what I need to keep doing...pay attention..and be grateful.
