Ring Them Bells

For the past several weeks the lyrics of a song written by a contemporary prophet have been rolling through my head. I can’t shake them. They stir a wide range of emotions and tensions. I hope they move you to deep thought.

– Sam Augsburger

Ring them bells, ye heathen

From the city that dreams

Ring them bells from the sanctuaries

’Cross the valleys and streams

For they’re deep and they’re wide

And the world’s on its side

And time is running backwards

And so is the bride

–

Ring them bells St. Peter

Where the four winds blow

Ring them bells with an iron hand

So the people will know

Oh it’s rush hour now

On the wheel and the plow

And the sun is going down

Upon the sacred cow

–

Ring them bells Sweet Martha

For the poor man’s son

Ring them bells so the world will know

That God is one

Oh the shepherd is asleep

Where the willows weep

And the mountains are filled

With lost sheep

–

Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf

Ring them bells for all of us who are left

Ring them bells for the chosen few

Who will judge the many when the game is through

Ring them bells, for the time that flies

For the child that cries

When innocence dies

–

Ring them bells St. Catherine

From the top of the room

Ring them from the fortress

For the lilies that bloom

Oh the lines are long

And the fighting is strong

And they’re breaking down the distance

Between right and wrong

-Bob Dylan