Prayer with a Beat

Lisa Martin



All I had to do was leave my office here at the Humility of Mary Center and head down to the light court  to experience my first drum circle. There were 10 others - sisters, staff and friends - that gathered.  Kathleen Collins, a CHM Associate, led us in the drumming. She brought many drums for us to use while some sisters brought their own. Before starting Kathleen made everyone comfortable with the fact that we are all born drummers, having listened to our mother's heartbeat for nine months in the loving comfort of her womb. She gave us information about the benefits of drumming which positively effects your physical, mental and spiritual well being. She then suggested that the drum beats are the wings that carry our prayers to the heavens. So that is what we did. We beat our drums with prayers for the people in our lives who are suffering and we drummed for the people of our country and the world to work together for peace. It was Sister Henneberry's birthday, so we had a special drum prayer for her continued good health. And finally we drummed for ourselves and that first beat we heard of our mother's heart.