A Clarion Call

The nurse who drew my blood this morning at the Mayo Blood Donor suite was looking for some kind of sign today. She prayed that God would send some Christian her way.

As is common during a blood draw, the donor and nurse often visit about weather, sports, family, jobs, and more. She asked what I did for a living. I told her I was a pastor at Bethel Lutheran Church. She said, "Oh, I was just there last night." "What brought you to Bethel?" I asked. She responded, "It was my first time at Beginning Experience. Beginning Experience is a support group for people who have lost a spouse through death, divorce, or separation. It was clear this nurse had lost her husband to death--a huge loss--and her faith was important to her. She is grateful for the good Christian man who leads BE at Bethel.

During the blood draw we talked about matters of faith, and, particularly for her, how faith can help us through the difficult times in life. She must have thanked me five times for coming to donate blood on this day of all days, and for being a Christian. She was looking for a beacon of light in a world shrouded with grief.

Or maybe she was waiting to hear that clarion call of faith. Christians, and especially Lutherans, can be quiet about our faith, not wanting to "push" it on others. Sometimes we miss opportunities to clearly sound the bell.

The picture you see here is of the bell recently installed with a bell tower on the west lawn at Bethel. Most people will never notice the four figures at the top of the bell--a kind of humanization of the bell--this bell is alive! This bell will sound in the neighborhood calling people to worship and to faith. There is no uncertainty--the only reason for the bell is to remind people of our faith in Christ.

It is a clear, clarion call. It was good to be a little bell this morning reclining on a blood donor chair. It is good that we use as many avenues as possible, including a brass bell, to tell the story.

"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
`God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.'"