We Are All One Drum
National Sons and Daughters Day traces its origins all the way back to 1930s Missouri, where a gentleman of the town of St. Joseph took up a young boy’s cause when the boy complained that his mom and dad each had a “Day,” so why shouldn’t he? (https://nationaltoday.com/national-son-daughter-day). It was designed as a day for families to spend time with each other, to look at and celebrate the differences and similarities of each member.
While it is a wonderful idea, it originated in a time where family members lived close to each other and were not scattered across the globe as many are today. Those of us who are aging may not have living ancestors or children to celebrate with; others have chosen lifestyles or vocations that preclude parenthood entirely. Some also say that though not biologically connected, we have been mentored or ‘parented’ by special people in our soul family or see those we meet as soul siblings. Life and definitions change with the passage of time though perhaps we simply forget old interpretations; after all, St. Francis of Assisi spoke of “Brother Sky and Sister Moon” all those years ago.
Hillary Clinton brought back the African proverb “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child” into 21st Century thinking and brought us renewed awareness that when the concept of family reaches beyond the personal to embrace a sense of the ‘human family’, only then do we care and love at our best. The spark that leads us to this grace-filled understanding may be individual but when we turn it into contemplative action the way forward takes on a Spirit-filled communal impact.
I spent part of this morning savoring Richard Wagamese’s last book, “One Drum[1].” His words take a willing reader to the centres of our simultaneously looped human and sacred circle of experience where there is no thought, but connection with the One. Wagamese teaches that “…we are all one song, one family, one energy and one soul. For when [his] people say “all my relations” at the end of a ceremony or a prayer, it is in recognition of that truth… We are all one drum” (p.24).
[1] Richard Wagamese. (2019). One Drum: Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet. Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.
-Susan Hendricks, Associate, Sisters of St. Joseph