EDITORIAL: The spirit of the bells

What symbol best personifies the spirit of Christmas?

This is a trick question.

If it simply asked about the best Christmas symbol, the answers would be too easy. 

In the secular sense, of course, nothing in the world trumps Santa Claus as the most recognizable Christmas character who, whether as an actor in red garb and appropriate hirsute features or a printed or electronic image, triggers instant yearnings and nostalgia for the material joys of the holiday.

In the religious sense, the most powerful symbol of Christmas as a sacred event in the lives of Christians is, obviously, the nativity scene, the venerated family tableau that represents the birth of the son of God, the namesake of Christmas.

The Christmas spirit owes something to both representations, but it requires a symbol that better reflects the elements of human character best expressed as kindness, generosity and charity.

And so, for the title of Best Personification of the Christmas Spirit, we nominate: The Salvation Army bell ringers.

This honor is for the volunteers, rather than the organization or the money it raises to help the needy.

The latter, though, is impressive, something over $100 million a year from the good work of the bell ringers alone. The fact that the donations dropped or stuffed into the Salvation Army red kettles are on average small, sometimes just loose change, but still add up to that amount is a testament to the worldwide reach of the organization.

Charity rating agencies praise the Salvation Army for devoting more than 90% of its collections to its mission of giving succor to the destitute, poor, hungry, homeless and addicted in the 132 of the world’s 195 countries where it works.

The institution is an evangelical church as well as a charity, and though its founding charter includes some stern precepts meant to be applied to providing both physical and spiritual salvation, it serves the needy of all faiths, or of no faith, and its proselytizing does not get in the way of its charity.

Rather than soldiers marching in this Army, the bell ringers are good-hearted local volunteers who sign on to the Red Kettle Campaign as a way of giving to those in need in their communities.

They are a ubiquitous Christmastime presence at the entrances to supermarkets and other stores. They are men and women of all ages and occupations, including senior citizen retirees and students. They stand for hours, ringing their bells undaunted by winter weather that can include snowstorms and subzero temperatures.

Their efforts have practical results. A portion of the red kettle collections are designated for the charity’s Christmas program that provides food and toys for needy families. This is in keeping with the tradition started in 1891 in San Francisco by a Salvation Army captain who appealed to the public to put contributions in kettles he placed around the city to provide free Christmas dinners for the poverty stricken.

According to the Salvation Army, more than 80% of the red kettle collections serve the needy in the communities and counties where they are collected.

But that is only part of the bell ringers’ impact on Christmas. The sound of their bells and the sight of the red kettles beneath a Salvation Army sign spark an instant recognition of the altruistic aspects of Christmas. The volunteers rigging the bells are invariably friendly, cheerful, polite and grateful for contributions of any amount. They are exemplars of kindness, generosity and charity—the spirit of Christmas.