{"id":4724,"date":"2025-07-04T08:10:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4724"},"modified":"2025-07-04T08:10:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:10:22","slug":"make-a-joyful-noise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/04\/make-a-joyful-noise\/","title":{"rendered":"Make a Joyful Noise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

The most famous story associated with the Liberty Bell is heart-touching.

The elderly bell ringer in Philadelphia\u2019s Independence Hall had lost faith in the Founding Fathers.\u00a0Would anything come of this dream called America?

But on July 4, 1776, his grandson \u2013 having heard the news of the approval of the Declaration of Independence<\/em> \u2013 raced to his side and shouted, \u201cRing, grandfather, ring!\u201d\u00a0With that, the gigantic bell began tolling the news that the colonists had declared their freedom.\u00a0

The joyful sounds drew a crowd.\u00a0They became the first to hear the Declaration<\/em> read aloud.

It\u2019s a great story.\u00a0\u00a0

Unfortunately, almost none of it is true.\u00a0

What we know for sure is that the Liberty Bell is a beloved symbol of America\u2019s earliest days.

You can find it on the back of coins, including (at various times) the quarter, half dollar, and silver dollar.\u00a0It currently graces the reverse side of the $100 bill. Astronaut Gus Grissom honored the Liberty Bell by so naming his Mercury 7 capsule.\u00a0And what schoolchild doesn\u2019t know that the bell features the world\u2019s most famous crack?

But the Liberty Bell, which weighs a ton and is almost 12 feet around at the base, has had a bit of a cracked history.

It was forged in England and delivered to Philadelphia in 1752.\u00a0Before it was hung in the steeple, it was given just one test ring.

A bit of the rim immediately splintered.\u00a0The bell\u2019s metallurgical \u201cmix\u201d of 70% copper, 25% tin, and 5% lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver was apparently defective, leaving it too brittle.

Two American metalworkers, John Pass and John Stow (who had never before recast a bell), did their best to make things right.\u00a0The result produced a truly jarring sound \u2013 as one witness reported, \u201clike two coal scuttles being banged together.\u201d\u00a0Since this was clearly not the result everyone had been anticipating, Pass and Stow gave it another shot. Their second effort was an improvement.\u00a0The bell was finally hung \u2013 a process that took six months.

It\u2019s certain the bell didn\u2019t ring on July 4.\u00a0Historians are divided as to whether it actually rang on July 8, the day the Declaration of Independence<\/em> was read aloud in Philadelphia. Records reveal that bells all over the city were sounded that day.

According to the National Park Service, the Pass and Stow bell was subject to \u201chard use\u201d for the next 90 years. No one knows for sure how, when, and why the famous crack appeared.

In 1837, it finally became known as the Liberty Bell.\u00a0That happened for two reasons.\u00a0

The first is the Bible verse that has always been inscribed on its side:\u00a0\u201cProclaim liberty through all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof\u201d (Leviticus 25:10).

Second, in the 1830s, the bell became an enduring symbol for the abolitionist movement. American colonists had originally declared their freedom from England.\u00a0Now who needed to receive the gift of freedom?\u00a0America\u2019s slaves.\u00a0

The Liberty Bell hasn\u2019t been rung for a least a century and a half.\u00a0Every now and then, however, it is gently tapped \u2013 annually on Martin Luther King, Jr\u2019s birthday, for instance.

There was an electrifying announcement on April 1, 1996, that the Liberty Bell had been purchased by the Taco Bell corporation, which promptly renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. According to national press releases, the bell would spend six months every year at the fast food company\u2019s headquarters in Irvine, California.

Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia was immediately besieged by calls from apoplectic Americans. Was nothing sacred? Officials hastily called a press conference to say they knew nothing of this development. That\u2019s when Taco Bell executives pointed out, no doubt with a smile, that the whole thing was just an April Fool\u2019s joke.

It should be noted that sales of tacos and cheesy gordita crunches rose by more than a half million dollars that week.

It does seem ironic that one of the most cherished symbols of our freedom can\u2019t do the very thing it was created to do:\u00a0make noise<\/em>.\u00a0It is essentially a silent witness to our nation\u2019s birthday, which might be described as the noisiest day of the year.

But we can do what we<\/em> were created to do.\u00a0We can decide not to be silent:

Give thanks<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0<\/em>For all of the drama and imperfections associated with our nation, it\u2019s still an incredible place. Thank God for the privilege of living in history\u2019s longest-enduring democracy.

Be civil<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0<\/em>Depressed by the rancor and pettiness so often on display in our leadership?\u00a0Choose to go a different way this holiday weekend. Be a living model of grace.\u00a0Extend a hand and a word of blessing to someone with whom you disagree.

Speak up<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0<\/em>As recent months have revealed, freedom is still a work in progress for all too many Americans, let alone myriad citizens of the world who yearn for freedom and are hoping that America can become the best version of itself. This is not the time to be silent about the rights and needs of those on life\u2019s margins. \u201cProclaim liberty through all the land\u2026\u201d

The Liberty Bell may not be able to ring, but we can step into the gap.

This year, on our nation\u2019s birthday, make a joyful noise unto the Lord <\/em>(Psalm 100:1).
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here The most famous story associated with the Liberty Bell is heart-touching. The elderly bell ringer in Philadelphia\u2019s Independence Hall had lost faith in the Founding Fathers.\u00a0Would anything come of this dream called America? But on July 4, 1776, his grandson \u2013 having heard the news of the approval of the Declaration… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[210],"class_list":["post-4724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-freedom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4726,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4724\/revisions\/4726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}