I waited a few days in between rings. I chanced it again today and used an esteemed elder with full health. I accidentally left the game on for a few hours on normal speed, and came back to find my tribe went from 49 people to 71!!! And that gave me a little concern with food ... at one point I had 42,000+ and I was down to the 17,000 point, so I didn't know how much further it would go down if I didn't start training more farmers soon ... and the gong granted FOOD ... JUST what I needed! ... about 1,000, and sounded with rainbows coming out of it. I also think it increased the skill of some of the farmers!!!

I know about the "take health" ... happened to me the third time I rang the gong, but that was only because I rang it the very next day after I rang it the second time. Try waiting a few days!!! Let it "charge up" a bit ... and see if your luck changes. Also, make sure of whom you have ringing it. Give the honors to a happy, healthy learned person to see if that makes the difference, especially of that person is an Esteemed Elder!