bells

For the first time, my church did the Great Vigil of Easter at 6 am on Easter instead of Saturday evening. Amazingly, I got both my kids there (kids were invited to come in their pajamas, and they liked that idea). Once we were settled the lights were turned completely off for the kindling of the new fire (with a flint) and then the readings from the Hebrew Scriptures were done by candlelight. When we got to sunrise, the black paper was removed from the windows and we all said "The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!" (The lights were also turned on--the church unfortunately faces west and it was a cloudy day.) We had small bells or chimes to ring every time we said Alleluia. Somehow those bells took the joy inside me, not in any dramatic way, but a seed. When my kids went out after communion (it was a 2 1/2 hour service) I had two sets of bells and smiled whenever I rang them.