Ring Out!

In Memoriam,

[Ring out, wild

Bells]

Alfred Lord Tennyson – 1809-1892

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild

sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty

light:

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him

die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the

snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the

true.

Ring out the grief that saps the

mind

For those that here we see no

more;

Ring out the feud of rich and

poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party 

strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of

life,

With sweeter manners, purer

laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the

sin,

The faithless coldness of the

times;

Ring out, ring out my

mournful rhymes

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and

blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and 

right,

Ring in the common love of

good.

Ring out old shapes of foul

disease;

Ring out the narrowing lust of

gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of

old,

Ring in the thousand years of

peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier

hand;

Ring out the darkness of the

land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

---

Amen. Am I right? Better yet, wasn’t (or isn’t he still) Alfred Lord Tennyson right? I knew some of the words of this poem, as I have read it several times before in my life. I stumbled upon it again, though, because I’m a nerd, and because I like to be right. I got sick of hearing news anchors and sports analysts say, “Bring in the new year,” so I googled it. I’ve always said, “Ring in the new year,” because of the idea of ringing the bells for just the purpose Tennyson describes. I love poetry and symbolism. Ringing bells symbolize so much. They toll of good news, of peace, of better days! They ward off evil spirits, close out the old, and symbolize ends moving to beginnings.

Are you ready? Are you ready for the year to die in the night and the happy bells to ring out? Are you ready for grief and feuds and strife to go? Are you ready for faithless, mournful times to end? Are you ready to bid foul disease good riddance? I am. I am ready for all the good that Tennyson spoke of 170 years ago to come on and bless us all. Bring on the truth that sets everything right. Bring on the common love of all that is good. Bring on the end of the lust for gold and the end of war. Bring on a thousand years of peace. Bring on valiant men. Bring on freedom. Bring on happiness and love that comes from living in the light. And most of all. Bring on the Christ that is to be. Bring Him to all of us. Are you ready for Him?

Whether you BRING in the new year or RING in the new year, I hope those bells are ringing loud and clear and find the Christ that is to be in the center of your 2021 as you do life, love it, and keep it real.