Ring Out the Old, Ring In the New

I have a great big section of my heart reserved for those who have been able to put their thoughts and hopes and testimonies to verse and to music. The hymns we sing in church each week often carry a message that is beautiful and direct and full of wisdom and hope. As you can probably tell, from my writing, I am not particularly blessed in this area of verse and beautiful language, but I have a great admiration and respect for those that do.

I start with all of this because today in church we sang, "Ring Out, Wild Bells". It is a beautiful song that I have sung many times, usually this same week every year. The words are those of Alfred Tennyson and the music was written by Crawford Gates. Both the lyrics and the music combine to have an almost foreboding air to it through the entire song until it wraps up so beautifully and decidedly at the very last note of the song. It is amazing that by just changing one note a half step, we can attain an amazing resolution and completion. And I don't think I ever appreciated the significance of that until I sat wrestling my four children in church today, trying to make it through the end of the meeting.

By changing just one little thing, harmony and hope can be a part of our lives. We can be in conflict or turmoil or duress, and can be brought to resolution by turning our thoughts and hopes to our Savior Jesus Christ. The song goes through verses of clouds and dying and night and comes to the true resolution of all of our lives in the final verse, that which can only be offered by our Lord. The words of the last verse jumped off the page at me today:

"Ring in the valiant men and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand.

Ring out the darkness of the land;

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Ring out the darkness of the land;

Ring in the Christ that is to be."

As the lyrics move in the direction of focusing on Christ, the music moves with it and we are given a wonderful lesson and example to use in our own lives. We are all affected by difficulties and sadness, we all live in a land that seems to be growing darker and colder as time goes on. The tone in the backgrounds of our lives might seem dismal at times, but if we can all turn our focus to our Savior and to having love and kindness in our lives, a beautiful harmony can replace it.

As I type this I am certain that this will only make sense to my own heart, but I need to express gratitude for these words and music because of what they have spoken to my heart today. The larger heart and kindlier hand have become my goals for this year, overcoming the darkness of the land is my lifelong goal and focusing on my Savior Jesus Christ is my eternal goal. They are all so beautifully defined by this song, how grateful I am that my heart was opened to this today.