pay attention to bells.

The monk stands quietly in the shadows of morning. He is going to do something soon that will call his fellows in the monastery high above the clouds in Nepal.The bell will be rung, the men will stir and file sleepily into the round empty room.They will sit, empty themselves and then chant to start their day. They will do this in a quiet so deep that the breathing of birds can be heard.

 Bells have always signaled that something different is about to happen."Pay attention", they say, "look up, this is important." I miss the bells at Mass that rang out when the bread was turned into the Body of Christ.This is not only different but miraculous.When the communists took over Mexico in the 1920s, bells were outlawed. Imagine that. If you were caught ringing bells you could be arrested. Miracles had been outlawed.The Churches were emptied. Do you know how the people learned that the government had fallen?.They heard the bells loud clanging ,like the end of the world, and they knew and wept.

When my granddaughter Maddie was expected, her Mom, Heather had some complications .It was a very tense time and we didn't know if we would ever hold that child and kiss her cheeks. .I recall feeling a sadness so heavy that I just had to get out of the house. I went into the woods, sat on my bench and closed my eyes. My heart was prayerful and then this happened:  a scene unfolded that was so mystifying, so real . I saw Heather sitting in a chair and from her left and right people were streaming towards her in single file. Each would take turns touching her abdomen and then pass on.I knew as if it was written on the trees that these were Maddie's ancestors from all parts of the world, making sure that this child was born and part of the line. Then, as if it had a home in the woods, a bell rang and they were gone.

Maddie came to us on August 15, 2012. Beautiful and perfect.I can see the ancestors smiling..