There was an old church with a four story tall bell tower with a big beautiful bronze bell in it. Every Sunday the pastor would pull on the rope to ring the bell. One Sunday however the rope broke, so the pastor priced a new one and brought a request for a sizable check to replace it before the church board. They said money was tight and they felt that the church would do fine without ringing the bell. Years went by, the pastor retired and a new young pastor took over. One day he climbed up the rickety steps up to the bell tower, all four stories of it and discovered that beautiful bell, the one that not been rung in years. At the next board meeting, he asked why the bell was not ever rung and they told him the replacement rope was too expensive, but if he wanted to ring the bell it was OK with them but he had to ring it without any expensive rope.
The pastor put an ad in the paper that read "Wanted Church Bell Ringer" with his address and phone number. The next day he answers a knock at his door. An armless man is standing there and tells the pastor that he and his twin brother are both certified church bell ringers and he wants to apply for the job. The pastor sees that this guy is perfect for the job. The guy has no arms and the bell has no rope. They climb the four stories to the top of the bell tower and the armless man carefully inspects the bell and announces that this bronze bell was one of the best examples of that particular type of bell he had ever seen. He asks the pastor to dust off a spot, which he does. The armless man steps back about three paces, rushes forward and hits the bell with his face. The bell rings beautifully. The shocked pastor looks at the guy and asks him if he is OK. He says he has rung bells for years that way, ever since he lost his arms and asks the pastor to dust off another spot. The armless man backs up against the wooden bell tower railing in order to get as far from the bell as possible so he could ring it even louder. Unfortunately the rotten old rail gives way and the man plummets four stories to the concrete pavement below. The pastor calls 9-1-1 and rushes down the rickety steps just in time to see the EMT zipping up his bag. He says there was nothing that could be done for him and did the pastor know his name. The pastor replies "I don't know his name, but his face sure rings a bell."
At the funeral the pastor notices a man standing over the casket weeping, so he steps up to console him and finds out it is the deceased brother's twin. He tells him he died doing what he loved, ringing a bell. The brother asks if he could possibly see the last bell his brother ever rung, so after the funeral they climb four stories to the bell. While stooping over to inspect the rotting wooden railing, the brother loses his balance and he plummets four stories to the pavement below. He calls 9-1-1 and again rushes down the steps only to find the same EMT zipping up his bag and proclaiming that he could do nothing for this gent either. He asks the pastor if he know his name, to which the pastor replies "I don't know his name but he is a dead ringer for his brother."
Ben
