In Remembrance

A small but mighty group from the two UCC churches in Framingham gathered at noon today in the Bell Garden at our church to honor the forty-nine lives lost in the Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando last year. Each of the seven in attendance took turns ringing the bell seven times (for a total of forty-nine). Though a quieter bell ringing than most taking place today the message of love and remembrance was very strong and clear indeed. xo

49 Bells to Remember Pulse Let us ring one for tears, one for parents left, one for lovers, one for siblings, one for friends, one for friends never made. Let us ring, and it is seven, for the talents that will not be shared, the music not sung, dinners not shared, stories that will not be told, the invention or the poem which will not be. Let us ring, and it is thirteen for people who are afraid to go dancing, for hatreds that are growing in secret, for mental illness which will not be treated because of the selfishness of health care, for ugliness wrapped in god-language, for people who still think their guns are more precious than neighbors, and for even one person who will not come out. Let us ring and it is nineteen for parentless children, the empty spaces in pride parades, for how Orlando doesn’t mean Disney World  to anyone older than twelve, and Pulse doesn’t mean I’m-still-alive-and-I-can-make-a-difference. to most of us over sixty. Let us ring twenty-five because of grandmas, twenty-six because of grandpas, and twenty-seven to include all the people who brought flowers and signs to the nightclub, wrote on Facebook, said a prayer. For the smallest of bells begins the ringing of hope. Let us ring one bell for every word – this will not happen again. And ring – courage, hope, pride, compassion, gun control, the healing of hatred, the easing of fears, the commitment to change. Let us ring and it is forty-one for the future of Orlando, for the possibility of love, all kinds of love, for the claiming of identity – all that discovering of what it is to be human, for the welcome in faith communities where everyone is safe. Let us ring a rainbow, ring so we will always remember, and ring tomorrow. And I will ring a bell for you, if you will ring a bell for me. -Rev. Maren Tirabassi