The chimes of Big Ben

The chimes of Big Ben rang out across London last night, welcoming the start of 2020. It’s a sound that has been mostly absent for the past couple of years, as Big Ben – The Great Bell – and its four smaller companions have been silent, wrapped up to protect them from damage during the extensive restoration work being carried out on the Elizabeth Tower which houses them.

Their sound was first broadcast to the nation on New Year’s Eve in 1923; they were heard around the world as part of George V’s Christmas broadcast to the Empire in 1932. In 1940, during World War II, listeners to the BBC’s 9pm radio news bulletin were urged to take part in a Silent Minute of Prayer, remembering the troops during the 60 seconds it took to broadcast the iconic peal before the news was read.

There is an inscription on a plaque inside the clock room of the Elizabeth Tower. It reads:

All through this hour,

Lord, be my Guide.

And, by Thy power,

No foot shall slide.

May that be our prayer and our experience during the coming year, whatever it may hold.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.

Psalm 37: 23-24

 

Dear Lord, as this new year is born,

I give it to Thy hand,

Content to walk by faith what paths

I cannot understand.

Whatever coming days may bring

Of bitter loss, or gain,

Or every crown of happiness,

Should sorrow come, or pain,

Or, Lord, if all unknown to me,

Thy angel hovers near,

To bear me to the further shore

Before another year,

It matters not. My hand in Thine,

Thy light upon my face,

Thy boundless strength when I am weak,

Thy love and saving grace!

I only ask, loose not my hand,

Grip fast my soul, and be

My guiding light upon the path

Till, blind no more, I see!

 

Martha Snell Nicholson