The joy of the season keeps rolling on. Would that it could last all year! It is a long holiday season indeed. It must be an inherent need to unload accumulated anxieties, drive away the demons that haunt us, and heal those “slings and arrows” dealt us. It started with the birth date of the holy Prophet Mohamed, Mouled Al-Nabi, with Christmas at its heels, followed by New Year's, and by another Christmas and again another one. The bells keep ringing joyfully, celebrating today's Coptic Christmas, January 7. Egyptian Christians are not alone. The roots of the Coptic Church are based in Egypt, but has a worldwide following. Russians are enjoying Christmas today, so are Christians in Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Ukraine, Siberia and elsewhere, so a very Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you. Armenians celebrate on the eve of January 5, and continue on the 6th. We discern no fatigue yet! Egyptians have preserved a tradition that goes back to the middle of the first century, when the Christian Church was established by St Mark in Alexandria. The head of the church carries the title of Patriarch of Alexandria and the Coptic Pope. Why the discrepancy between the different dates? It is the result of a split by the Coptic Church from the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. Theories abound for the reasons, but the Egyptian population remained Christian even after the Muslim invasion in 639 AD. Over the centuries, the extremely heavy Muslim taxes gradually transformed Egypt to a Muslim majority by the 12th century. Copts continued to follow the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. January 7 is referred to as ‘Old Christmas Day', and was observed by Western farmers and villagers until 1762. Partying and merry-making releases stress aided by the bells that keep jingling and jangling, ‘all the way'. Bells are an integral component of major events, especially during the holiday season. From tower tops, cathedrals, domes and palaces, the rich peals of those ‘silver bells' invite the world to rejoice. One of the oldest and loudest of musical instruments, it is no surprise that it originated in Egypt, 5000-4000 BC; also used by the Chinese and Assyrians. They were immediately associated with qualities of magic and superstition. Only such a powerful sound can drive away the devil. As far back as 1300 BC, priests would hang tiny bells to their robes to protect them from the evil spirits. They were hung on doorways to protect hosts and visitors. During WWII, 33,000 bells were removed and recast into war weapons, but most were replaced after the war like the famous Vienna Bells of St Stephens' Cathedral. Musicians were fascinated by their sound as far back as 1791 when Nicholas Daylarac introduced them in his opera Camille. Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss wrote parts for bells in their compositions, but it was Mozart who added to the musical literature his Concerto for Bells. Filmmakers as well seized the dramatic attributes of bells using them most effectively and skillfully as in Victor Hugo's film adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And who can forget the piercing bells of doom with Marilyn Monroe in Niagara, (1953). Would Hitchcock ignore such a chilling tool? Remember Vertigo, (1956)… or The Man Who Knew Too Much, (1958)? They were even used in film titles, as if the very sound could penetrate the heart of the public. There is The Miracle of the Bells, The Bells of St Mary's and Hemingway's unforgettable For Whom the Bells Toll, (1943), a line borrowed from the British poet John Dunne: “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls / It tools for thee”. And it does! Time must never be squandered, ‘for Time once lost, is never again found'. If you have never heard a bell, Edgar Allen Poe's poem, The Bells, will bring their vibrations to your senses. The poem was published after his death in 1849… but still keeps ringing in our ears. “Keeping time, time, time/ In a sort of Runic rhyme/ To the tintinnabulation that so mimically wells, From the bells, bells, bells/ Bells, bells, bells..” After we take that “cup of kindness yet,/For Auld Lang Syne” we are reminded of making resolutions, which we know we shall never keep. Nonetheless, it is a traditional promise we make to ourselves, mostly for self-improvement. A study by Richard Wiseman of the University of Bristol, in 2007 showed that 88 per cent of men fail; women do slightly better. Yet with the spirit of hope and optimism emphasised with a brand new year, we make them anyway. If only a small percentage keep them for life, eventually it will be a better world. Most of the resolutions revolve around the self… which is a good thing no doubt. To diet, exercise, stop smoking, learn a language, make more friends, adopt a healthier lifestyle, is quite admirable. But ‘kindness', mentioned in the traditional Robert Burns song, we sing every New Year's Eve, year after year, is the best choice. What else but kindness can right the many wrongs of this world, and make it less ugly than it really is. Those bells will jingle all the way, louder than ever, and keep joy and laughter in our hearts----until next year. “We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet, For Auld Lang Syne” Robert Burns (1759-1796)
