CALL FOR SOLIDARITY AGAINST ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE: If your spiritual gathering place has a bell, as the minister of First Parish in Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist*, I encourage you to join a growing number of faith communities and ring it on SUNDAY October 8 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. EST (or in your local time zone). Ring it intentionally with the purpose of first honoring those who have been the targets of violence in our society but also as a warning to those who would promote, glorify or carry out violence and violent rhetoric. This is one simple act that may unite those of us who believe in a world of peace.

First Parish Cambridge will ring its bell 59 times on Sunday to honor all of those impacted by the shooting in Las Vegas. Our message is clear as a bell: we will not be silent in the face of violence.

In a time when too many live under the threat of governmental, societal, political, social, sexual and personal violence, many in the developed world are at a loss as to what can be done. Although we may not agree on the means, surely people from every walk of life can agree on the goal: peace. A culture of violent action is encouraged by violent rhetoric and aggressive and irrational politics. In such a world there must be voices that call for humanity, unity and love.

Bells in houses of worship and spiritual gathering places have historically been signals to the community…of death, of warning, but also of joy and birth. They call us into relationship with the realities of our lives and our worlds and there is no more stark reality that we face today than the fact that a culture of violence is literally killing us all.

On your day of gathering or worship, ring bells. Whether it is your church bell or hand bells or a singing bowl, ring bells to let the world hear that you still believe in peace. Ring them in the morning, ring them in the evening, ring them all over this land.

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*This event/action is co-sponsored by First Parish in Cambridge