Children and Youth

Drum Circle

Thank you to Lynn Tax for the following post:

What was all that drumming on Sunday morning?

It was a drum circle, a fun, multigenerational group of Trinity people gathered into a circle for
the purpose of making a joyful noise with percussion instruments! Facilitated by Mark Freeh,
the session began with a brief discussion of the language of rhythms that we find in nature.
We talked about our heartbeat, the sound that a cricket makes, the rain, the rhythm of a dogs’
wagging tail and simply b r e a t h i n g. Next, to anchor our time together Mark shared a poem
he wrote called The Rhythm of Life

Keeping time
with the rhythm of life.

The clip clop of sneakers
on a morning walk.

The heart pulsating
the blood of life.

A babbling brook,
raindrops falling, crickets singing.

All sounds
Of a world in rhythm.

The drum stirs our soul
and connects
us to our humanity.

Becoming one with the drum,
we touch our ancestors from
a primitive time.

Our group becomes one,
as the rhythm flows,

out to each other,
and back again.

We are keeping time,

With the rhythm of life.

And that is exactly what happened! We kept time, we played our drums and as a group we
became one with the rhythm! Mark gave us a pattern to follow and our music was created in
the moment. There is not an audience; everyone who entered the chapel played. It was part
exploration and part jam session and we know that many of you heard our beautiful rhythm
all over the church. The rhythm and sound transcended our everyday communication and

embarked on that drum circle journey. Some of us were beginners and others had been playing
for many years, but we all shared a collective voice of rhythm as we played together. You really
must plan to join us next time and bring a drum if you have one.

A Fresh Perspecitve

Check out Bending Birches blog by Garden Gate mom, Rebecca Smith.  She shares her view of the Godly Play environment on today's post and her other posts are dedicated to beautiful, simple living and parenting.  Thank you Rebecca for contributing your time and talents to our community.  You are a true blessing!

 

Vignette from a Godly Play Teacher

Inspired by the words of the children during the telling of the Parable of the Mustard Seed.

 

Once a bird ate some fruit and dropped a seed on the ground.

A child noticed the seed and pushed it deep into the earth.

There the seed stayed, surrounded by the cool, dark soil, all alone.

The seed was lonely.

Above the ground autumn came. The leaves fell and the wind blew. Most of the birds
Flew away for the winter.

Winter came. Snow fell and all the water froze into the ice. The soil froze too.

The seed was now cold and lonely.

Spring came with warm sun and gently rains, and

The seed stretched and began to grow.

Roots stretched down into the earth and a sprout stretched up toward the surface until it
pushed out into the light.

It was now a plant.

It grew through the spring rains

And the summer sun

And the autumn winds

And slept when the winter snow and ice came.

And when spring came it was a bush.

Rabbits hid under it

And squirrels ran by it

And birds perched on its branches and sang.

It was not lonely any more.

When fruit appeared in its own branches

Birds came and ate and flew away

And scattered its seeds across the earth.

-Kathleen Knaack