One of the wonders of China is the Bell Temple near Peking. Its
great curiosity is the great bell. It was cast five centuries
ago and weighs fifty-three and a half tons--the largest hanging
bell in the world. It is covered all over with extracts from
the Buddhist canon, in Chinese characters. It is rung by means
of a huge hanging timber swung against it, calling forth tones
the sweetest, most melodious, and resounding, as if echoing the
chords of eternity. But the striking thing about this great
bell is that its tones vary in proportion to the quality of the
sounding-board receiving them.
Does not a ringing truth or a loving deed depend upon the response it
gets?
(2742)
* * * * *
We are told that if one were to suspend a bell weighing a
hundred tons, and a little child were to stand beneath it and
play upon a flute, the vibrations of the air produced by the
playing of the flute would cause the bell to tremble like a
living thing and resound through all its mass.
As bell responds to flute, so the heart of the Christian responds to
the music of the message that issues from that manger cradle of the
Babe of Bethlehem. The time will come when the music from that manger
shall melt into itself all earth’s Babel sounds and fill the world with
harmony.--J. D. FREEMAN, “Concerning the Christ.”
(2743)