I heard a horror story a few years ago about a man who comes to a small town and holds a dance in a tent, but the twist is that he puts a spell on the towns people so that they can’t stop dancing even to the point that some of them begin breaking legs or even dropping dead. Today, I read a fable from Africa where a monkey plays a fiddle doing almost exactly the same thing to king lion’s court. Part of me is amazed at how two stories, centuries apart from different continents could have so many similarities, but there is another part of me that isn’t surprised at all.
That part of me believes that I am a microcosm of the universe, and the universe is a macrocosm of me as well as all living things including humanity. We aren’t just individuals and when we die, there’s nothing. We are one body, we belong to one life, and that one life is the life everlasting that Jesus spoke about. We have within us all the secrets of the universe and all the stories that have been told. We know each other and God, but somehow in our human form we lose that perspective. It’s so easy to think that we are alone in the world and that no one could ever understand what it is like to have the experiences that we have.
A few years ago, I attended a Choctaw Powwow, and I got to listen to Native American drum being beat for the dances. We were in a huge convention space with many people and the place filled up with noise, sights, and sounds. Yet as I sat and listened to the drums rhythmic beating, I had a sense of peace and relaxation that was so profound that I started to fall asleep. When I listen to music now, I have begun to realize that the music I like the most has strong bass beats. I might be wrong, but people have been drumming for centuries. It is a sound that binds us together. They drummed in war, they drummed in ancient civilizations, and they drum today. Maybe, I am drawn to the drumming because it is a sound that reminds me of my connection to the universe, to the world, and to all living things. That sound grounds me and reminds me that I am, and I am not alone.
People try so many ways to feel connected to others. My best example is social media. However, when I use social media, I feel like all the connections are superficial and almost dead. When I hear drumbeats, I feel something deep inside. This feeling resonates in my head, in my heart, and it even touches my body.
I’ve talked about how there’s an energy to all life. When I touch someone else, I can feel that they are alive. I can’t do that through a computer. When I talk to someone through a phone, I don’t feel their energy, but when I hear the drumbeats, I don’t just hear it in my ears. I feel an energy through my body. It is the same way I feel when I go to a loud concert, except when I go to a loud concert, I feel like my body is just being pummeled with random and irregular bursts of energy from all over. It feels like being hit over and over again without knowing where the next punch is coming from. When I hear drumbeats, it’s like waves of energy coming at me in a pattern and it is almost like getting a relaxing massage. No wonder people dance to drum beats and can go into trances. It is like connecting to the energy of the earth or of nature.
I find it difficult to remember the lesson, but it really does help to feel the energy of nature falling over me like a waterfall, flowing through me, and resonating within me. When I hear the drums, I know I am hearing a sound that was heard thousands of years before and will be heard for thousands of years in the future. What a great connection to the life force of the universe.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
