This is our neighborhood church, Ayios Panteleimonas. It sits on hill less than half mile from our house. Every morning
at 6:30am I hear the first church bell ring, just a simple bong. One bong and
then it is finished. At
7:30am, every morning, I hear bong, babong, bong, babongbong, babong, bong for
about 3 minutes. It sounds like a
celebration. Each morning is a new celebration. In the distance I can hear the church bells being echoed
throughout Nicosia as each local church is also ringing the bells. After my mom’s visit she sent me note
asking for a recording of the morning bells. She said she missed the sound. I know what she means.
For me, I think it is an affirmation to rejoice at each sunrise for it
is another day that will be filled with new adventures, some big and some
small.
In researching
the significance of the bell ringing I found at e.how.com the following:
For centuries, church bells
have summoned, celebrated, reminded and commemorated. Originally, they served
communities as a tool of mass communication for both spiritual and secular
matters. Today, though the onset of modern mass communication like radio,
television and the Internet has decreased the breadth of church bells'
communicative role, they nevertheless retain much of their original meaning.
For me it is a reminder that each day should be celebrated and commemorated. The everyday, ordinary and even mundane things are what make up our lives. These are the things, like the church bells ringing every morning, that I want my children to remember, that I want to remember, after we have moved on to our next assignment. Each of these little memories become a thread that is woven into the tapestry of our life. The more of these little bits you grab onto the more rich your life tapestry will be. I want mine to be thick and glorious.
Layout in progress.
Decisions, decisions. What to use.
The finished LO. Simple. Basic. But the most important part - documented.
