Well, Easter Covid 2020 shall be long remembered. Yes, this Easter was different in many ways with no public gatherings, meaning no Sunrise Service, no Pancake Breakfast at the church afterwards, or Easter egg hunts for the kids. With all that was canceled, I volunteered to go ring Saint Paul’s Methodist Church bell here in Socorro, NM at sunrise. (I had no idea how many memories would come flooding back across my mind as the morning went on.)

I felt it was only right to make sure I was dressed in my Sunday finery, and no, that does not mean my pajamas. So Kristal and I went to the church bright and early and waited for 6:40 to roll around. There we were, me standing inside the church with hands on the rope and Kristal standing just outside the door. And the moment came. I pulled the rope and just like something from an old silent movie – there was no sound as about 10 feet of rope fell earthward from the ceiling. I turned to look at Kristal each with shocked looks on our faces. I said, “Now what?!” She said, “You better grab the ladder.” So here I am, dressed in me Sunday go-to-meeting clothes, heading to the shed to grab the BIG ladder to clamber up on the roof. After taking about two steps the thought came to mind of the house I lived in in California many years ago. From my front porch I could see the roof of the house across the street and one fine day I saw their 8 year old daughter on the their roof wearing a cape, with an umbrella in one hand and the leash hooked to the Cat in the other, all while wearing roller skates. Yes, roller skates! I think this came to mind as my own shoes I was wearing was a bit on the slick side for being on the roof. But I still managed to work my way up to the bell tower and open the door and start ringing the bell for the better part of a minute at sunrise-ish, all the while thinking of the old guy in that Western movie saying “I’ll wack that bell.”

When I got done with the ringing, while still sitting on the little ledge of the small doorway to the belfry, I stopped and took off my shoes figuring I would have better traction in just my socks and tossed my shoes on down.

After all of that came the realization that something needed to be done to try to fix the bell before the 11 o’clock hour when it was to be rung by others. But I did go home and change clothes first and get better shoes on. After all, I didn’t have a cape, or umbrella nor do I think my cat would go with me. But it made for a memorable Easter for sure! It was just as I finished the chore of fixing the bell that one of the lay leaders of the church called to say “He has Risen!” Through my laughter I was able to respond with “Yes, He has Risen indeed!” and then proceeded to tell her about the morning.