A Magic Circle

This is an adaptation of an article I submitted this week to the Bolivar Times on behalf of the Hardeman County Ministerial Alliance. I share it with you for two reasons: one, that the call to unity in the Holy Spirit be fresh in your ears and two, that you be encouraged or challenged (whichever one you need) to really see and know your community.

While visiting a friend this summer, we headed into downtown Asheville, North Carolina, to enjoy a pleasant evening. During dinner in an outdoor cafe, we could hear what sounded like a drumbeat carried on the breeze (much like Gilligan and the gang used to hear). Curious, we asked our waiter what the sound was and he told us about a drum circle that was probably gathering in one of the small parks downtown. Even more curious, we finished dinner and began walking toward the sound. The beat got louder and more intricate with every step. When we turned the last corner, we saw over 300 people in that small downtown park - everyone playing his own drum or her own tamborine, some simply clapping their hands or swaying to the music. It was amazingly beautiful to see every socio-economic status, every race, every age represented in this strangely magical circle. Both men and women, single and attached, some alone and some with their children - and everyone together. I still haven't figured how they did it - how they knew where to gather and on what day, what time would they start, and who's in charge? Nobody could tell us, they just heard it was happening. Some, like us, because they heard the music. Some, because they heard it from someone else who heard it from a friend that a circle would be forming. And, how did the rhythm change so smoothly, with no interuption at all? I mean, was somebody in charge and everybody knew it but me and my friend? Or, was there enough trust and shared responsibility in that huge crowd of so many different kinds of folks making music that it just happened?

As the rhythm changed the first time, I realized how intoxicating the experience was - not just the music, but being a part of it all. So intoxicating, that in the dancing and keeping the rhythm we were drawn almost to the very center of it all. As the rhythm changed for the third time, the picture in front of us, capturing us suddenly came into sharp focus. There we all were, a "rainbow" of personalities, persuasions, and backgrounds working together for a common good and enjoying it, enjoying one another!

That should be the goal of Christians whatever our persuasion or practice because it is the call of God. Paul urged the Christians at Ephesus - and us today, no matter where we are - to "make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians4:1-3) One person, one church, one agency will never be able to tackle alone all the difficulties that besiege our communities. Unity does require effort and commitment that comes from a choice to work side-by-side with others even when they are different from you or me. That choice gives nod to the belief that our common denominators - love for God, love for our neighbors, concern for our communities - will always be stronger, louder than our differences.

Our communities need our hope, our strength, our boldness, and most of all our love. The following statistics are just some shared by local community professionals in Hardeman County, Tennessee, which happens to be the third poorest county in the state of Tennessee. My guess is that you'd be just as shocked and heartbroken as I was to learn the reality that I and my neighbors live in:

• 70% of all youth who come before juvenile court test positive for drug use
• 1 in 10 adults struggles with alcoholism/problem drinking and its consequences
• Hardeman County, though we are one of the smallest areas in the District, has the second highest criminal case load and child support docket in the 25th Judicial District
• Only 66% of the county's population has a high school diploma
• 1 in 4 individuals live below the poverty line

Can you imagine the power of our work to stand against the decay and disillusionment that affects our communities, if we will stand together? Can you imagine the beauty and power that would begin to characterize our life together, if we would but trust one another - different as we may be - and share responsibility and leadership toward God's promise of hope and new life?

I really wish that you'd been with us that night in the middle of the drum circle where half the world showed up! And, I pray for the gathering of another magic circle ... and the other half deciding to come, too!