Restored and Resounding

Bells are meant to remind us that God alone is good, that we belong to Him, that we are not living for this world.  They break in upon our cares in order to remind us that all things pass away and that our preoccupations are not important.  They are the voice of our alliance with the God of heaven.  They tell us that we are His true temple.  They call us to peace with Him within ourselves.
                                                             Thomas Merton 
                                                                                              Thoughts in Solitude

                         We were beneath the Easter bells
                                       just restored and resounding 
                                 from stacked old stone and sky--
              
                         rushing through the clanging
                                      out of moments and the stilled quiet cars--
                                 my husband and daughters and son and I

                         in the dangling morning light
                                      making our way to Mass--
                                 each with the navigation

                         of our hearts
                                      that take us and bring us
                                 back to one another

                         again and again--
                                      like moving
                                 toward our Lord

                         beneath the measured songs
                                      of late Easter bells--                 
                                 who has been with us all along.