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“Let the Bells Be Heard” — for Kathy Yandell and all those who love for no reason!
By Dr. Sam Hijazi
Say it loud, say it proud —
No hush of shame, no cloak of silence.
Let the stained-glass windows sing,
Let the pews rise like hills of hope,
Let the Spirit of joy swirl through
the steeples and the whispers of bread and wine.
We are not called to be the same—
but to love in color.
Not to echo each other’s words,
but to harmonize our differences into one gospel.
Love your neighbor?
Yes. But love, too, the winding story in their voice,
the heritage braided into their smile,
the ache behind their gentleness.
O Loving you____
Your name dances like morning light on river water.
You held the hand of the tired,
You saw the invisible,
You didn’t ask, "Where are you from?"
but "How are you still rising?"
You are a sermon of kindness wrapped in skin.
Let us—O Church of the Lamb—
not worship only in hymns,
but in every act of embrace,
every hug that defies fear,
every prayer that dares to say,
“I see God in your scars, your accent, your flame.”
Say it proud!
There are no exceptions to grace!
No borders to mercy!
No parentheses around dignity!
Each soul is a verse in the poem of heaven,
each hand a bridge across the silence.
To love is not to erase,
but to celebrate the constellation of our being—
the Arabic curl of a name,
the Southern lilt of a hymn,
the way two eyes can meet
and finally understand:
You are different. And that is divine.
So love yourselves,
but more than that—
love the holy mystery that made us not copies,
but wonders.
Let the bells be heard.
Let the joy roll down like water.
Let us gather at the table where
even Judas was fed.
Because this is the gospel:
That we rise by lifting each other.
That grace is louder than judgment.
And that Kathy’s and your spirit live in every hand
that opens instead of points.
Amen to the dance of difference.
Amen to the fire of unity.
Amen to the Spirit of Joy
that wears every face.
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