ding dang dong

Oct 11, 2006Find joy today

The cross in Le Rouret, France
Church bells ring in our village, on the hour. I love the hourly reminder that all is well, that the day is progressing with a chime. It’s much nicer than a cuckoo clock. 

But every once and a while, the bell chimes ding dang dong. The first two notes ring like the first two notes of FIGARO, but the last O part of the note rings a half-step lower, in dissonance. Why? Because our village church is hosting a funeral.

Whenever I hear those sad, dissonant bells, I think of death–how very final it is. And it makes me want to live in light of eternity, like my friend Jeanne has ruminated about.

It’s easy for me to speak of eternal perspective. I’ve been a fan (if that’s the right word, probably not) of Randy Alcorn for many years. I love that he’s spent his life thinking about and researching heaven, eternal rewards, and eternal perspective. It’s not so easy, however, to really live it.
As I scanned today’s news of North Korea’s threat, I realized how tenuous we walk on this tilted planet, how little security we really have, how control is an illusion. As the clock rings ding dang dong, all I can do today is run, run, run to Jesus. This world is a difficult place. His hand is the only permanent one. So I cling to it.
ding
dang
dong

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