Two-hundred-and-twenty-nine
years
ago today, during the Revolutionary War, the Liberty Bell was hastily
hauled
from the State House in Philadelphia.
It was hoisted into a sturdy wagon, camouflaged under hay and manure,
and
driven 50 miles outside of Philadelphia.
In an outlying village, under the cover of darkness, the Bell was hidden
beneath the floorboards of
Old Zion’s Reformed Church … today a United Church of Christ
congregation. The Liberty Bell was hidden
from the British
who, were encroaching on Philadelphia.
Had they gotten a hold of it, it was feared they would have melted it
for
cannon. The bell remained hidden in the church until the British
evacuated the
following year.
The
Liberty Bell is famous for
having summoned citizens of this then fledgling democracy to some of
the most
important meetings associated with the founding of a new nation:
meetings of
the Philadelphia Assembly and of the Continental Congress.
It
is fitting that on this
anniversary, Old
South Church
dedicates our new Bell Wheel. The new Wheel will allow our Tower Bell
to ring
in full swing, and therefore, in full voice, for the first time in
living
memory.
It
is not that the Tower Bell has
been silent until now. On the contrary, it is pealed every Sunday.
Every
Sunday, for about 15 years David Vogan, a member of Old South, has
climbed a
series of metal ladders into the Tower. At 10:40 am, he takes hold of
the bell
rope and begins to pull. The rope is attached to an iron
tolling-hammer. As the
rope pulls, the hammer bangs against the two-thousand-and-twenty-pound
cast
iron bell. The bell itself is motionless … only the tolling hammer
moves.
Today
that will change. Today at 12
noon David Vogan will take hold of a second rope … a new 90-foot rope,
two or
three times the thickness and strength of the first rope. When he pulls
this rope, the new Wheel will begin to
swing the Bell.
The
Wheel was hand-crafted this
summer by our church moderator, Jeff Makholm. Last Spring Jeff
discovered a
blueprint for a bell wheel. Shortly thereafter, on his own initiative,
Jeff
hatched a plan to build a wheel … replacing the original one that we
presume
rotted away. Jeff spent countless hours this summer in the undercroft,
right
below where you are sitting, building a new wheel.
What
he made is a thing of beauty;
it is expertly crafted and engineered. This past week the Wheel was
hoisted
into our 246-foot Tower and affixed to the Tower Bell.
Yesterday,
with the clapper wrapped
to muffle the sound, Jeff and David practiced pealing the Bell on its new
Wheel. It takes some getting
used to. When the Bell
is in full swing the rope rises 20 feet and there is some art to
pulling it
just enough and not too much. The idea is to swing the bell up,
inverted from
its resting position, without allowing it to go all the way over … and
then
have it swing back the other way … to the same, inverted position,
again,
without having it fall over.
David
rings the bell for five
minutes each Sunday. With the tolling-hammer he creates about 180 peals
in five
minutes. He calculates that with the Wheel, he will create about 150
peals in
five minutes. In this case, we think less is more.
My
late husband, Peter, loved the
Tower Bell. Those of you who knew Peter
know that
he loved things that were dramatic … and he tended
toward the dramatic himself. And he loved welcoming people to church.
It was
with pride and delight, therefore, that I learned that the Makholm
family,
Jeff, Mercedes, Lauren, Carla and Daniel – each of whom had a special
relationship with Peter – had decided to dedicate the Wheel to his name
and
memory. I can’t think of anything that would have pleased Peter more.
When
I shared this news with
Peter’s family in England,
this is what his son, Duncan, wrote in response: “I can’t think of
anything
more appropriate for Peter. He so loved Old South and what it stood for
spiritually and for the community of Boston.
He loved the pomp and circumstance of the Boston Marathon and often
told me
about the bell ringing and the supporting activities for the runners at
Old
South. As a great connoisseur of Church architecture he would be
thrilled that
the wheel will give the bell its full resonance for these important
events in
the life of Boston.
The inscription on the wheel is beautiful and it is something that his
family
and friends on both sides of the pond can be very proud of.”
Old
South’s Tower Bell has
witnessed a great deal of history. But more than that, it has also
marked and
announced history. Over the years its voice has called out for many and
varied
purposes:
- On
national days of mourning it
has tolled in solemn remembrance.
-
During times of peril – war,
fire, natural disaster – it has sounded an alarm.
- It
has pealed in exultation
during times of celebration … for instance, when couples have been
married
here, when the winner of the Boston Marathon crosses the finish line,
when the
Patriots won the Super Bowl.
-
Each week it peals to call the
faithful to church and to announce that worship is happening here …
that here,
God is found.
From
ancient times, church bells
have not only called the faithful to church … they have also announced
to those
who could not get to church – the ill, the elderly, prisoners – that
worship
was happening. At the pealing of the bell, each was invited pause
wherever they
were, and turn their attention to the Holy One, Maker of heaven earth.
Today
at noon, when David Vogan
tugs on the new rope, and rocks the wheel and gets it going, the bell
will
swing, and this time the sound that it will make is the riotous
clanging and
pealing of a two-thousand-and-twenty-pound bell in full swing crashing
back and
forth against its tongue or clapper. It will sound different than when
it is tolled
with the hammer: louder, wilder, less rhythmic, more resonant.
Our
Tower Bell has a voice and a
tongue … a ministry of sound. It is a public ministry that reaches far
beyond
this congregation … it reaches out into the city, proclaiming to all
within
hearing that God is here. Our Tower Bell is a riotous interruption in
the life
of the city … a breaking forth of sound and song, calling attention to
the
presence of the divine.
In
this sense our Tower Bell not
only speaks to us, calling us to church; it also speaks for
us …
raising our voices above the sounds of the city.
You
know how teachers and parents
explain to children that there is an “indoor” voice and an “outdoor”
voice? The
indoor voice must be used when we are inside. The outdoor voice can
only be
used when we are outside: on the playground, in the park or in the
backyard.
Our
Tower Bell is our outdoor
voice. It is our collective cry and summons to the beauty of holiness.
It is
our proclamation of God’s interest in justice. It is our clanging,
joyful call
to the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our riotous, wild
summons
to the hallowed work of worship.
Our
Tower Bell shatters the quiet
of a staid city, rings to the wild and wide open skies proclaiming that
it God
who commands our attention and allegiance.
Our
Tower Bell proclaims that when
you come in through these doors, it is not business as usual that you
will
encounter here, but something wildly, joyfully unusual
… something holy and hallowed.
The
Liberty Bell called a new
nation to the adventure and work of democracy.
Old
South’s Tower Bell calls us to
the adventure and promise of Christian discipleship.
May
those who have ears to hear,
hear!
