clear as a bell

In the cancer community, patients observe a tradition to mark the end of active treatment by ringing a special bell. Maybe you know someone who has celebrated this way?

A few weeks ago, I rang the bell.

My bell-ringing day came with cheers from my oncology team who made me a pink glittery crown to wear for the special event.

Stephan cheered too.

And Joshua and Caleb cheered all the way from Ann Arbor.

And family and friends from around the country, even the world.

The moment was full of joy. We had come so far. I can hear your shouts even now.

Thank you.

Turns out bell-ringing has a history.

For well over 1500 years, when the Christian Mass was celebrated only in Latin so the average churchgoer really didn’t understand what was going on. A bell was rung at key moments to make sure people knew which parts were important. Maybe you’ve experienced a jittery altar boy lifting a set of bells just before the consecration of the bread and wine. Then he throws his wrist into the bells three times as the priest’s stretches his arms toward heaven.

The bells signify change. Transubstantiation. Whether you agree with the finer theological points, the point is God comes closer to his people in that moment.

The best bells in life wake us up. They point to something significant. Some sort of change, or impending change. And once that change comes, there ain’t no going back to the same old. That bell is rung!

Annie Dillard said, “I had been my whole life a bell, and never knew it until at that moment I was lifted and struck.”

Ringing my bell signified the end of one mountain range and the beginning of another. The hard swallow the past few months is the realization that cancer, for me anyway, isn’t really going away. The chances of it coming back are pretty high. I am learning to survive and live with the uncertainty.

It’s a holy place.

I’ve changed and there’s no going back. I am more at peace. I love more. I hope more. Faith is no longer a luxury for me, a decoration, semi-optional. It’s raw, vulnerable, honest, even angry sometimes.

Trust is a better word.

So, dear ones, what bells are ringing in your life? Or about to ring? Or should ring? Count me in for the “whoop, whoop” when your bell is lifted and struck.

Seriously, I want to know. Leave a comment, send me a text, email or DM. I want to hear that beautiful sound.