As The Bell Tolls!

Cute little title for this post, don't you think? I'll be referencing a few final quotes from Bells "Love Wins". First a couple of other quick notes. Couple of days ago the bell tolled for Osama Bin Lauden after almost ten years. If there was ever a good case for capital punishment, and I'm not sure there really is, Bin Lauden would be the one. It seemed to give a lot of people closure over 9/11. The most impactful part of this news event came from Alexandria, my daughter. The next morning she expressed remorse that so much was made of the death of a human being, even him. And of course, Justice was served. But it didn't reverse any of the consequences of that fateful September day or bring any of the lives back. She also commented that the energy of the people in the crowds seemed eerily like those one may see in a jihadist rally. Out of the mouths of babes. Even twenty something Babes. I really do hope and pray that we as a human race may be able to mitigate this cycle of violence in the future. In spite of all the steps backward we seem to take I do believe that in the grand scheme of creation we really are getting better and hearing this come from my child gives me much hope.

Both Richard and Rob speak of the need of a catalysis as a precursor of positive change. Richard tells of a need for either Great Love or Great Tragedy (pain, loss) to see a move toward positive transcendence. In Love Wins, Bell writes on page 35.."For there to be new wine, someone has to crush the grapes. For the city to be rebuilt, someone has to chop down the trees (sustainably of course, my insert :O)) to make the beams to construct the houses."

Many of us have experienced such events in our lives and can attest to that truth. Our world in recent decades certainly have such experiences as well. I pray for positive steps and hope for the future. Another quote from page 195 expresses our need to embrace our past and then move upward. "...the indestructible love of God is an unfolding, dynamic reality and that every single one of us is endlessly being invited to trust, accept, believe, embrace, and experience it....As we experience this love, there is a temptation at times to become hostile to our earlier understandings, feeling embarrassed that we were so "simple" or "naive," or "brainwashed"....These past understandings aren't to be denied or dismissed; they're to be embraced. Those experiences belong. Love demands that they belong.....Love frees us to embrace all of our history, the history in which all things are being made new."

Bells work deserves a good read and it is best understood when looked at from the lens enunciated by or polished by Richard and Brian. Pax Christi! RV