Ring the bell loudly!

[Morning Letter 2940] Wednesday, December 22, 2021

     Ring the bell loudly!

     Shalom!  It is Wednesday morning, three days before Christmas.  I hope you are in good health and peace throughout the day.  ‘Carol’ means ‘dance or song of praise and joy’.  Carol was once sung throughout the four seasons, but later it is said that “the only tradition left is to sing at Christmas.”

     Ring the bell loudly!  The old year is passing, let's resound the old things and welcome peace.  / Let all envy and strife resonate with old thoughts, and welcome a pure life and a new heart together.  / Let's send peace through the painful disease and endless greed and war.  Let's spend the darkness of this earth and welcome the Lord Jesus so that we can enjoy joy, wide love, and true freedom.
     Hymn 554.  This hymn is taken from a poem written by the poet Alfred Tennyson.  The 7th and 8th stanzas of this poem, which is composed of 8 stanzas in total, are as follows.  Send on the bells, the viruses that have plagued us for so long / Send on the bells, the golden greed of loneliness / Send on the bells, a thousand old wars / Hear from the bells, a thousand years of peace // Hear from the bells, brave man, freedom , a bigger heart, a kinder hand / Send on the bells, in the darkness of the earth / Hear from the bells, what will be done in Christ.
     It is too resonant to be dismissed as an old poem written in the context of England 170 years ago.  The old and the new, the lies and the truth, the rich and the poor, the old ways of strife, and the noble way of life, the vain pride of class and lineage, and the love of truth and right, the old and the new sung in poetry; Sickness, greed, strife, and a thousand years of peace, the darkness of the earth and what will be done in Christ.  This contrast is truly strong even with the eyes of 2021.
     The song of a poet 170 years ago that we hear anew here and now in 2021 means that we are still bound by lies, sorrows, worries and desires, and all those old things.  I think it means that we still desperately need the ‘salvation bell’ that contains truth, love and peace. (Source: Bible and Culture, Dr. Jeon Moo-yong)

     It is believed that not only 170 years ago, but also before that, there must have been the pain and sorrow we are experiencing today.  Of course, on the contrary, there must have been the spirit and sound of kindness and love, joy and peace.  As you know, the Black Death that swept through Europe since the 14th century killed 1/3 of the European population, right?  Anyway, I think we should not just end up suffering this tribulation we are going through, but rather understand and reflect on its meaning and lesson more deeply.

     [I will make peace in your land, and when you sleep, you will lie down without worry.  There will be no more wild beasts and wars in your land. (Leviticus 26:6, modern language) Happy are those who work for peace.  They will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9)]