I’ll play the bells at Christmas
Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2024 Blog #50
December 9, 2024
I’ll play the bells at Christmas
My Grandma always told me that you only get old when you stop doing things for the first time. Taking her advice, I decided to learn something new this year and am learning to play bells in the bell choir at the Community Church of Glen Rock, NJ. God willing, and with persistent practice, I’ll be playing in the Christmas Concert on December 22.
There are a few problems with my learning to be in the bell choir. I don’t know how to read music. I also have trouble following the score so I’m never quite sure when it is my turn to ring a bell. Currently at practices, the director points to me and indicates my left side or my right side. This tells me if I’m to ring the bell in my right hand or my left hand. It gets quite interesting in our practices and other bell ringers as well at the director have shown amazing patience with me. I’m thinking of nominating them all for saint hood.
The director told me that she is confident that I will have enough skill to perform with the bell choir in two weeks. I sure hope she is right. I don’t want to ruin a good performance by others through my own ineptitude.
And yet, despite these trials, I am thrilled to be doing this joyous activity. In my sixty-five years, I have never had the chance to play an instrument publicly and I will be doing it for Christmas. I’m thrilled that I will be able to make a joyful noise on Christmas. Because of this, I have also made a resolution for the new year, a custom that I rarely do. My resolution is to learn to read music this year. I bet it will help me play bells in the future.
Playing music, I am told, is good for the spirit. I agree. I have always enjoyed listening to good music, but there is something about making the music which I find more enjoyable that simply passively listening.
My musical experience is limited but I did sing in the junior choir when I was a child. Also, in high school, the churches of the city jointly sponsored the singing of Handel’s Messiah. I, and a church friend my age, were recruited to join in this chorus. I learned that I could stay on pitch pretty well If I followed other male voices. I found singing exhilarating. Doing music, it seems, is better than simply listening to it. That is what I am feeling in the bell choir.
Ringing bells is helping me feel the joy of Christmas in a very new way. I’m hoping that someday I’ll be good at it. Until then, I’ll simply be ringing with joy for the birth of Jesus and following Granny’s advice. I’m learning to do something new. May God bless my endeavors, and may God bless the patient people who are guiding me on this journey. I hope that someday, my music will sound pleasing to God.
I encourage everyone reading this to make music, not just listen. Music might just be a wonderful path to feeling God this Christmas.