Favorite Chimes

My favorite church bells are those that chime
In the white gloved hands of instrument ringers,
Keeping up in rhythm and musical time,
Often accompanied by silken robed singers.

Outside the steeple church bells peal
Calling the congregation to enter.
But the handbells playing inside reveal
Church music’s greatest representor.

The music I hear from these bells of brass,
From the moment it commences,
Is something I can never forpass.
It’s a feast upon my lyrical senses.

The tinkling and clanging, soft at first,
Crescendo in a magnificent tintinnabulation,
Till I feel my spirit ready to burst
In a jubilantly harmonious, brass celebration!

From the damp notes, long notes, clangs, and gongs
Till the last resounding skyward trills,
Oh, how I love to hear the handbell’s songs.
It’s one of Sunday morning’s greatest thrills.

I remember playing them when I was younger.
They bring me back to such happy times,
When I looked forward with such hunger
To worship the Lord with beautiful chimes.