This coming Sunday, 21 December, is special in so many ways. It’s the final Sunday of Advent, signalling just a few more days before we celebrate the birth of Christ. At sunset, the Jewish commemoration of Chanukkah, the Festival of Lights, begins. And it is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, also known as the Pagan festival of Yule (from the Scandinavian Jul, meaning wheel).
I stumbled across something else happening this Sunday: a movement called Ring the Bells of Peace, an event led by musicians Melissa Etheridge and Salman Ahmad, and writer/teacher Deepak Chopra.
The concept is simple: at midday (local time) on Sunday, groups of people and individuals around the world step outside, meditate or pray for one minute, and then ring a bell for one minute for peace.
Now I have to tell you, the thought of doing that outdoors, at least alone, brings out all my stiff-upper-lip British self-consciousness, but I think it’s a lovely idea – joining in a kind of global pause for reflection on this important day. So I’m going to compromise. I’m going to do it, but inside my house. The ‘bell’ I’m going to ring is my Tibetan singing bowl.
How about it? Anyone care to join in?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooh, not sure if I will be able to overcome my British reserve. Don’t think we have a bell in the house other than the door bell!
oh, i love this…although, i’m with barney. i don’t think we have a bell in the house and our doorbell is out of order. i have been wanting my own singing bowl…maybe i’ll get one before sunday! maybe i can use the bell chimes on my cell phone…not very romantic, but it might do the trick
thanks for letting us know about all these delicious events. i have this image of bells ringing around the world all day (although i’m not exactly sure how the whole time zone thing works.)
Oooh, this is cool! But what is local time? Do they mean at noon on December 21 wherever you are in the world?
Local time – that Sue would ring her bells at noon in Australia, Lucy at noon in Seattle and Barney and I at noon in England. Kind of spreads out the bell love!
And for those sad bell-less people among you, how about doing what we did when we were kids and filling up a few glass bottles with different levels of water then hitting them with a knife to make musical notes!
Or finding a cat with a bell round its neck and shaking the cat for a minute? Oh dear, I think I may have had too much caffeine this morning!
LOL. I LOVE that cat idea Tess. There’s a black one around here would come in handy if I could get a hold of it
I don’t actually HAVE a bell. I am thinking of hunting down something metal, or crystal or, in the New Years Eves of my childhood, banging a fork against a saucepan
Love the idea – but wonder if I’ll think of it on time??? Maybe I’ll set an alarm clock for Sunday?!
We have bells. I can choose between a little silver dinner bell that was my mother’s, two very small blue and white china bells that were my grandmother’s, two small brass bells that were my aunt’s, and several decorative jingle bells that are out because it’s Christmas. Oh, and one cat with a bell but we call him Tub o’Tom so he’s too heavy to shake for a minute.
None of these bells would make a very loud sound.
Tess and Barney, perhaps you can step outside your homes to listen for other bells or be bravely outside in your back gardens?
Go ye forth and find a bell or a creative substitute!
I’m not British and the healing work I do involves lots of healing with sounds and even I had a brief moment of “wow, a minute of bell ringing – my husband with think I have totally lost it!
And then I felt a little shiver inside that I lead with my limitation rather than the brilliance of a full day of bell ringing to conjure peace when the earth has hit her still point.
The static that inhibits the mind and the spirit and sends us flying off to judgment so woefully fast…. Grrrr. I think I will ring two bells for two minutes – one will be for peace in the world, the other will be for the inhibitions I’ve sunken into my soul!
@ Barbara Anne, what a lovely bell collection you have! And I think you should post a photo of Tub o’Tom, he sounds great.
@ Epiphany Girl, what a great reflection – lead with your limitation. Exactly what I’m doing! It runs so deep, doesn’t it?
Henry the black cat says that even though he’s nearly a kind of pacifist he will not allow himself to be shaken for a minute – forget it! I’ll use the Tibetan Singing Bowls instead. Remembering won’t be too much of a problem as I will be celebrating 6 years of Oblation on Sunday so another reason to get the bells ringing. What a lovely idea (and I really like Melissa Etheridge) – thanks for sharing it with us, Tess.
You’ll hear me all the way over here. Thanks Tess!
@Sib, I’m so pleased this is your 6-year anniversary, how lovely. And I think Henry is right.
@Rachel, I’ll be listening!
I remembered! I took my mother’s little silver dinner bell and jingle bells, sat in a double rocking chair (Christmas gift from DH last year!) on my front porch, and prayed and rang my bells.
May peace prevail on earth.
Well done Barbara Anne! I sat on the stairs, looking out the back door into my garden. I felt a bit silly to start off with but then that fell away and I was left with a really good feeling.
(I’m thinking about treating myself to a rocking chair one of these days!)
i missed it by 10 minutes but i did not forget. i stood on my snow covered back porch and rang my angel wind chime with a soup ladle
. the snow has started falling again and everything looks gray and white. just as i was finishing the ringing prayer for peace, a seagull flew overhead and for me it totally symbolized a dove of peace. 
Hi Tess. I was completely sure where I’d be at noon today but I read your post on Friday & wanted to join you, albeit 8 hrs later if I calculated the time difference correctly.
So I rang “bells” on my winter-y walk home from downtown. At exactly noon (PST) — I knew the time because I was standing at the corner near the city hall clock plus I heard the Canada Place noon horn blow — I jangled the keys in my pocket. Not quite what I planned to do — I was going to carry a jingle bell but forgot it.
Here is the Prayer for Peace in Advent that was in our church (Anglican) bulletin this morning. Now that I am home, I will reflect upon it.
Hindu Daily Prayer for Peace
Oh Lord God almighty, may there be peace in celestial regions.
May there be peace on earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome, and may trees and plants bring peace to all.
May your law propagate peace all through the world.
May all things be a source of peace to us.
And may your peace itself bestow peace on all,
and may that peace come to me also.
(Note: We were encouraged this Advent “to include a weekly prayer for peace from four non-Christian traditions as a sign of our essential unity with them as children of God, and our hope that peace between faiths will bring peace between peoples and nations.”
Thank you for your thoughtful words and providing a focus to this fourth Sunday of Advent, Winter Solstice, day to reflect on peace — that begins with me {us}.
@Lucy: I smiled at a vision of you and your soup ladle, and was happy for your visiting ‘dove’. How beautiful.
@Elaine: jangling keys is very creative, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it and just been fed up I’d forgotten my bell! What a lovely advent prayer tradition, I think that’s beautiful. I’m going to make a mental note to do that next year. And the prayer you quote is also lovely. The line that stood out for me – perhaps because it was you quoting it – is the one beginning ‘May herbs be wholesome…’
I love these comments. Rocking chairs and soup ladles. Beautiful!
I forgot
Lovely Advent prayer and what a positive step to realize and to acknowledge that we are God’s children, no matter what face of God we see. Thanks, Elaine!
Tess, I highly encourage you to treat yourself to a rocking chair as soon as possible! One will be an asset to your home, inside or outside.