Drum Circles, Thin Spaces, and Labyrinths: Coming Home

I've written about thin spaces before.  According to the St. Francis by the Sea website, thin places are "places where people have sensed the intersection of the sacred and secular, of heaven and earth."

Here’s the thing about thin spaces…sometimes they happen when you least expect them. And often times they happen with unexpected people.  I was invited to a drum circle on International Peace Day at an Episcopalian Church. We met around a labyrinth. As I arrived, a friend asked me to light some sage. She was walking the labyrinth with incense. Everyone was so welcoming. Hugs, handshakes, and eyes and ears that wanted to hear each others’ stories. And then about 75 of us sat around this labyrinth and we made music. Music with drums, egg shakers, tin cans, or anything we could find. We shed our masks we’d donned because society told us we should wear them. I looked out at the crowd. All ages and backgrounds and faiths stepping up and letting go and laughing in unison. Swaying to the music. Putting glitter on our faces like it was fairy dust. The Reverend looking on with a glint in his eye and one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen. And those moments were thin. Those moments I felt God in the breeze as He looked down at us. I felt Heaven come a little closer. And I was a little more home.