Trevor Dailey's Weblog

A Bell Named Liberty

Once there was a town that wanted to celebrate their country’s anniversary of freedom. It was decided that a bell would be cast and be placed in the tower of the City Hall, and when the bell was rung, the sound would be a reminder to all who heard it of their freedom. The bell was to be made from the finest material available, to be made by the finest bell makers in the town. So it was done, and when the bell was completed, because of the freedom it was to represent, the bell was named, Liberty.

A great crowd gathered on the day the bell, Liberty, was to be first rung. The leader of the town’s government would be the first to pull the rope to ring the bell, and the symbolic sound of freedom would be heard. The bell was rung once, and on that very first ring, the bell cracked. The bell was not rung again, and the bell was later removed from the tower.

Upon examination, the bell was found to have no faults in material nor workmanship. No logical explanation for the bell cracking could be found. The bell was returned, not repaired, to the tower where it could be seen, with its large crack, by all. The bell was never rung again, for the people of the town who wanted the sound of the bell to represent their freedom, realized the real message in the cracked and silent bell they called Liberty.

Liberty is fragile, it is not easily restored, it must never be taken for granted, and it always must be secured.

(c) Trevor Dailey