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Ages (the years 1000-1300). They were used to call the faithful to prayer or to signal the start of a service. Jones and I both squatted down and looked at a blue touch screen below the keyboard that displays hymn selections: ���Trust And Obey.��� ���Blessed Be The Ties That Bind.��� ���Jesus Loves Me.��� The songs are programmed to play for about five minutes, five times a day: 8:20 a.m.; 9 a.m.; noon; and 5 p.m. She tries to schedule the children���s hymn ���Jesus Loves Me��� every day at 9 a.m. because that���s when the pre-school kids are showing up. And every day at 10:01 a.m. ��� by request from the Daughters of the American Revolution after 9/11 ��� patriotic hymns such as ���God Bless America��� and ���America The Beautiful��� ring out across the city. To stop and listen to these bells ��� and to tune out the daily soundtrack of a modern city through which they echo ��� you can���t help but feel a chord striking in your soul. ���I love to hear them,��� Jones said. ���It���s a calmness and an assurance for me to hear the bells. It���s a ministry to this community, I think. That���s kind of how we see it.��� In the Belfry I needed to see the bells. Not just hear them, but to look under their tongues and see how they make their joyful noise. Jones lead me across the red-carpeted sanctuary and up to the entrance to the bell tower. She opened a door and we proceeded to climb a steep, narrow stairway. And then another steep, narrow stairway. And then another. Each step seemed the equivalent of two steps. We climbed higher into the dim, drafty tower. I felt myself getting winded, though I tried not to show it. I apologized for making her endure the climb. ���I don���t do it very often,��� she said. ���But you���ll get your exercise for the day.��� When we finally reached the belfry, I peered out across the city and looked up at the 19 cast bronze bells ��� at least four tons of bells. The large bell at the bottom is the oldest. It was a gift from a church in Troy, N.Y., after the great fire of 1831, which wiped out much of downtown Fayetteville on a Sunday afternoon. The bell bears an inscription in Latin. The translation: ���I perished in the flames the 29th of May 1831. I arose from the ashes through the generosity of Friends of the Second Presbyterian Church in Troy, New York.��� I stood there for a time, my head craned back and mouth opened. ���Wow��� and ���cool��� are all I could muster, for lack of anything more profound to say. ���Just watch your time,��� she warned me. The bells chime exactly at 5 p.m. ���It���s 4:27,��� I told her. ���Okay, you���re fine. I don���t want your ears to burst.��� She���s right. If you were to be inside this tower when the bells chime, you could do some serious damage to your ears ��� the decibels are deafening. The bells don���t swing; rather, it���s the metal tongues inside, also known as strikers or clappers, that go side to side, to and fro. They bang the heavy metal to create a sweet melody to be enjoyed from a safe distance. High Church From that vantage point, I could see other downtown stee- Margit M. Hicks,P.A. ��� A t t o r n e y s A t L AW Compassionate. Dedicated. Experienced. ��� M argit M. Hicks & suzanne P. sHankar Proudly serving the families of Cumberland County for over 21 years. Adoptions/Alimony/Child Custody and Visitation Child Support/Domestic Violence Divorce/Name Changes/Pre-Nuptial Agreements Property Division/Separation Agreements Termination of Parental Rights 1013 Arsenal Avenue | Fayetteville, NC 28305 | (910) 829-1400 www.fayettevilledivorceatty.com CityViewNC.com | 39

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