This is a copy of a famous painting titled The Angelus, by Jean-Francois Millet. This painting has always touched me, because it hearkens to an older time- a time when people all over a community took time out when they heard the Angelus bells ring at the local parish church.
Last evening my wife and I visited our old neighborhood on the west side of Cincinnati. As we were walking near my old church, St. Martin Church in Cheviot, I heard the Angelus bells call out at 6:00PM. I was immediately transformed to a time some 50 or 60 years earlier, when those same bells rang, and we were instructed to stop in place, and pray the Angelus prayer.
It was, of course a simpler time, a bit slower paced time to be sure, but one steeped in tradition and reverence. A community of believers stopped in reverence in response to bells that called us to remember that whatever we were doing was secondary to pausing for a tribute to the Creator.
While the Angelus is no longer a part of most communities, what now is the reminder to stop whatever we are doing, and call upon our Father in humble reverence?
Prayer: Lord, help us to recall daily your provision for us, and our need for a humble response, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 