A God of Surprises
Ringing associations across the country are full of those who tirelessly teach, guide, encourage and inspire those new to ringing, and it’s unsurprising that at times it can feel a bit of a thankless task. In rural areas, the lack of new (and younger) ringers can be disheartening, and the time needed to nurture those of more advanced years is sometimes a little daunting. We find ourselves looking to the not-too-distant future and wondering who there will be to step up when we can no longer manage the tower steps or the weight of the tenor, or stand the cold of winter practice nights.
We would all love to have vibrant groups of younger ringers in our towers, to achieve ringing standards that meant good striking, to progress onto more challenging methods, and we’d rejoice if we were to have elections at annual meetings where new faces were queuing up to take the lead. At present, in many rural areas where populations are small, and enquiries into ringing are more likely to be from the not-quite-so-young, we can seem a very long way from reaching these dizzy heights.
Despite my focus on the concerns of ringers in more rural areas, I am conscious that in every tower in the country there’s an appreciation of the need to keep bells ringing and to keep enthusing new ringers, and many of the same challenges are faced.
Sometimes, however, we are wonderfully surprised! Sometimes, our perceived wants and needs are turned upside-down and we find ourselves blessed with newcomers to ringing who bring not only huge wisdom and experience from other aspects of life but also the great attributes of commitment and time, and a willingness to utilise these gifts for the benefit of ringing in the broadest sense. What they lack in ringing expertise is made up for by organisational and people skills, the readiness and ability to build positive relationships, and an awareness of the heritage of ringing and how much small communities appreciate and value the sound of the bells.
Our God is a God of surprises, and quite often we’ll find our desires and our dreams, our thoughts and ideas, our behaviour and our attitudes, turned upside-down by God’s response to them. In the Gospels, Jesus encourages us to pray, to ask God for things that we need, and to know that we will receive them. Here is the crux of the matter – the answer to our prayer may not be what we think we want, but God knows our deepest needs even when we can’t recognize them ourselves, and delights in giving us these things.
For ringing to grow and to flourish, we know we need to be proactive in reaching out to the next generation of ringers, but we also need to keep our eyes and ears open to be surprised and encouraged by what and who actually turns up in the ringing chamber next week – wisdom and life experience can go a very long way!
Nicky Seabright