Church Bells: Reminders of Holiness

Among those  who approach me I will show myself holy. Lev. 10:3

Yes, I made it to Santa Fe and back by 10 A.M., just in time to have lunch at Hannah & Nate's with my friend, Alice at 11 A.M in Corrales. This small restaurant uses organic produce from Los Poblanos Organics, a farm that isn't very far away from them. I am getting about 2 deliveries a month from LPO, and I enjoy the fresh, organic produce, as well as products from other organic companies.

Today I'm adding another of my summaries from Meeting God in Quiet Places by F. LaGard Smith and it's from my original blog, so please be patient. Chapter 4 from Meeting God is probably my favorite parable from this book. The idea that golden bells on the edge of a priest's garment mean so much is very moving. See what you think. 

This parable equates the ringing of church bells to holiness. There are about 160,000 bell towers in England. In fact, most villages have bells in the church tower to tell the villagers that something important has happened. Births, deaths, weddings, and even times of peace after a war are all cause for ringing the church bells.

Some of the bells are over 10 feet in diameter and very heavy...weighing tons. And in England, there must be bell ringers who have practiced the art of "change-ringing." This style of ringing dates back at least 3 centuries. The bell-ringers are proud to pull the ropes of the bells perfectly. There are episodes in All Creatures Great and Small series about a group meeting to practice their bell rope pulling. But what all of this got to do with holiness?


Bells are mentioned only twice in the Bible. The garments of Aaron the high priest were sacred and included a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a tunic, a turban, and a sash. Instructions for making the robe say that it shall be made of blue cloth with pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn around the bottom of the robe with gold bells alternating between them. Aaron wore it when he ministered as a priest before God in the Holy Place. The explanation for the bells is: "Their sound will be heard when the priest enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die." DIE???!!! The tiny golden bells were a matter of life and death. 

How could this be? Because the high priest was the only mortal man who went into the presence of the God of all creation. Anyone else entering would die. It seems the bells were to announce the coming of the priest before the Lord--the unholy one before the Holy One.
~ 

I'll continue this parable tomorrow with more explanation about the bells. Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

~

Blessings...Mimi