Music

With vacation over. I now turn my thoughts to music. Preparing to teach new students to play piano. I have ten students this year. Six older students returning from last year and four new students, who have all the enthusiasm that first graders muster! It is pure joy to watch little fingers take their first steps on the keyboard.

However, my real passion is handbells. I direct a group at my church called "Balcony Bells." An appropriate name, as we rehearse and usually play from the balcony at the back of the sanctuary. Handbells are instruments that not only sound beautiful, but are fun to watch being played, especially with a choir that uses techniques, such as martellatos (hitting the bell on a foam topped table) gyro (twisting the wrist) tolling (swinging the bell at arm's length) or playing the bells with mallets. Sometimes we do play down in front or walk through the sanctuary in a procession. My choir is a fantastic mix of 14 people, ranging in age from 12 to older than me! We were out for vacation for three months and I really missed them.

I was told by a very dear friend and mentor, that bells represent "freedom." I was, at that time, coming out of an emotional prison. My friend thought that for me, bells were a true release of the one I was meant to become. This was well over twenty-five years ago, and I still think about it when I pick up a bell.

A bell has only one sound, albeit, one of a perfect pitch. Yet singular and separate notes can make one melodious chord and these chords strung together can create a smorgasbord of sound, from deep rumbling thunder to whispering butterfly wings, from harmonious waves of rippling giggles to precise marching cadence. They can also be dissident, chaotic, and disturbing to behold. It's all up to the hands of the ringer. In the same way, I am one soul completely unique from all others, perfectly made by my creator. I have the freedom to behave as I wish, or choose to put myself into the hands of a loving God. Under His control, I pray, my life will respond to His voice and fulfill His will. It is my hope that my actions will echo His kindness and mercy. That when life shakes and thumps me, that I will draw closer to Him, where He will quiet the clamor with the comfort of His love.