Heidi Beth

The language of drums

This afternoon we took our drums to a neighborhood Baha'i children's class held in an apartment complex in Arlington Texas. I had no idea before hand what we'd be asked to do, and I was happily surprised. I was given the whole hour(after they sang a prayer in Spanish...their little voices so sweet)) to share my love and knowledge of drumming with a lawn full of beautiful smiling children who had been anticipating this class for days. They ranged in age from 2 to 14(at least) and a few young mothers. Many of the people present did not speak much English, so I had the opportunity to hear what I said after I said it and it helped me stay focused. Focused on helping everyone have a joyful experience making music together(and I loved hearing another language floating all around me). 3 girls in particular, all around 12 or 13, seemed to fall in love with the sound of the drum, with the sound they could make together. Many of the smaller children drummed along on their stools through everyone's turn. All the children were respectful and involved, happy to wait their turn. Devyn and Matthew were polite, helpful and allowed me to tend to other children with out complaint, simply being a part of the whole. Matthew did two cute magic tricks for all of us. Devyn helped pass the drums around as we went, and at one point held a big drum off the ground so Matthew could play and make a good sound. It was joyful! This retelling only skims the surface. Clearly the prayers from my mom, David, Louise and all the people that regularly pray for this group were surrounding us and lifting us all higher, to a place our spirits already know exists.