Drumming

Drumming

A few years ago I attended a weekend business women’s conference. The first evening we all gathered in the conference room and had a trained instructor lead us in a drumming session.

We used several different drums, but no drum sticks. We tapped out the rhythm with our hands. Our instructor explained how to beat the drums and found a volunteer to be the ‘lead’ drummer. This person would set the pace of the rhythm and more or less give us a beat to keep time with.

We started off quite tentatively but did stay in time with the lead drummer. We continued drumming for about five minutes and I began to sense a shift in the room. People were starting to get into the feel of the music and to flow with it.

After this brief introduction, which I’m sure was a way to ease us into the activity, we stopped and some of those present commented on how surprised they were at their enjoyment of the experience.

We then began another session and almost from the start vibrant energy began to reverberate throughout the room. Within minutes I became totally unaware of anything but the rhythm of the drum. My mind was focused entirely on the beat. The rhythm seemed to flow through my body and out my fingertips to the skin of the drum I was using. I lost track of time and place. I was totally enveloped by the beat of the music and fully alive to the moment.

And in that perfect moment, in the beating of the drum, I knew God was among us and was part of the music we were making. There was a compelling sense of Spirit in the rhythm and the shared absorption. We drummed for about half an hour and I continued to flow with the experience.

As we brought the session to a close, I and several others had tears in our eyes, tears that came from the amazing sense of connection to one another and to God that we had experienced. Music can indeed bring us into the presence of God and draw us closer to Him.

Lord of the Dance,

It’s amazing and delightful that something as simple as sharing a drumming circle can provide a profound experience of you. In moments when we are fully present in whatever it is we are doing we often find you are there among us. May we be attuned to those times when this is so and be blessed and nurtured by the experience.

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