1 Million lives lost to COVID

The tolling of the bell

On Saturday, May 21, the All Saints’ bell was tolled to mark one million lives lost to COVID in the United States.  We at All Saints’ stand together with the entire country in lament over the lives lost, and recognize that each one of those lives was a beloved person whose absence is felt by family and friends. This solemn ritual has been done at each 100,000-death milestone.  This tolling was different, and not just because of the stunning milestone.  Five of our parishioners joined together to share the work of tolling the bell.  In turn, each man rang the bell 20 times, with each toll representing 10,00 lives lost.  The tolls were varied:  some were quieter, some more forceful, some quicker, some slower.  It occurred to us that the softer tolls represented the children.  The bell’s tolls sang with a perfect, beautiful representation of the diversity of the people our nation has lost. 

Thank you to David Baxter, Bob Black, Brad Fisher, Don Foskey, Joe Hunter, who helped toll, and Debby Smith, for capturing this on video.