Voices in Bells

     During last night's dream, I experienced a hearing lesson. I should say it was a lesson in listening. The lesson centered on bells. I knew what bells can represent, but I never really paid attention to what they say.

     Take church bells for instance. Their baritone-tenor voices speak slowly. "Come. Come. Come." This probably is the reason they are rung at the morning, noon, and evening. They summon people to take prayer breaks during the day.

     The old hand-rung school bells said "Hurry. Hurry. Hurry." Their job was to get children into the classrooms promptly.

     The third example of my dream was the gong. Even though it is associated these days with 'the Gong Show' and getting a lacklustre performer off the stage, it's original purpose  was announcement. Depending on the cultural context, the gong announced the arrival of a dignitary and said "Bow" or "Kowtow." Gongs have also been used in mansions to announce the evening meal and commanding people to "Eat."

    Some bells seem to sing. Others like those in mantle clocks tell the time. Then again, as LouLou says in the film It's A Wonderful Life, "everytime a bell rings an angel gets his wings."

    These days bells are don't have much change to speak. When they do, we should pause and listen. After all, who wants to miss a meal?