Saturday, October 19, 2013

What is prayer for someone who doesn't believe there's an omniscient, supreme being?

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.~ Joseph Campbell

I always find myself doing a knee-jerk when someone asks me or the general population around me, as in Facebook, to pray for him/her. When I was a little girl I lost that part of my brain that believes in ghosts, goblins, angels, or god. I began to think that if there was a god, he was must be mischievous and sadistic. You see, I was brought up in a home with constant turmoil. I had a father who was so overwhelmed with his fate he stayed away from home as long as he could and drank a quart, yes a quart, of whiskey every day and a mother who fought internal demons and took her frustration and pain out on the only two people around her. Since my dad wasn't around much, I was the one who took the brunt of her exasperation.

While my friends were thinking of proms and other school activities I was reading the bible and philosophy books. I found myself there, imagining that I was trapped in a bottle, kind of like a ship in a bottle, and was part of some big experiment. 'Let's do this or that to her to see how she'll react.' I was literally being driven crazy. I ran upon Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain. At one point he is questioning the suffering of children and how a god, who could save them, would let them suffer. I even considered suicide as an escape plan. One night, I looked up at the stars and prayed for deliverance. But what happened next is I took charge of my life, became of age and left—for good. I never went back. For those who believe in the god or fantasy would say that my prayers were answered. For me, I took charge of my life.

I look around. The internet has brought so much more of the world to our foreground. I see tortured pets and children, war, war crimes, (actually, war is a crime). While looking at all this, I also see love, in my own life as well as all around me, I see wonderful people out there reaching out to those tortured children and pets, reaching out trying to stop war, going in diseased areas trying to put an end to suffering, famine, and hunger. The Yin-Yang truly represented.

So, what is prayer to someone like me? Someone who doesn't believe that some powerful being is listening?

I believe that faith equals confidence, a positive outlook on life. People blindly follow other people exhibiting self-confidence. Trusting in one's instincts and abilities aids in going on each day. A confident person emerges from a crowd in a full forward stride. Situations are analyzed, questioned, then decisions are made and there is no second guessing. It's like going through a traffic light. If it turns yellow, don't stammer, make a decision.

I believe that hope is a happy anticipation of a good outcome. Hope is looking for the positive, that white dot in the middle of the black. Optimism reigns here. The glass is half full. Rain brings not weeds but new life.

I believe that prayer is thinking positively of a person. Prayer is happy anticipation that someone can beat the odds. Confidence that their personal power will overcome whatever odds and/or pain s/he may be experiencing.

Angels are those people who go out and work in the world to ease others' pain: nurses, volunteers, people who rescue animals, people who go to those areas of the world to help those in need, people who work in nursing homes, people who work with other people suffering from severe mental or physical handicaps.

Miracles are things that come about against the odds. What we feel is normal or average makes those things that are outside that norm—so awesome that we call them miracles. They are simply in a long line of the continuum of possibilities. She will never walk again--then she does. He won't live past age two, he's now 20. It is a miracle, to me, that we exist at all among all these stars, planets, and rocks. It is a miracle that I can see it, feel it, experience it. It is a miracle that I found my life mate among millions and millions of people.



For me, and possibly others like me, who do not believe in an anthropomorphic supreme being (god), are there angels? Is there faith, hope and prayer and awe in this vast world of wonders? My answer, while down to earth and tangible, is yes.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Peace Within the Plant

Rainy days
Transform the earth in many ways
Desert sand parched with thirst
Welcome water from the sky's burst
Sun peaks from cracked cloud
Close to darkness like a shroud

Leaves reach skyward and brightens
Flowers cup raindrops as their tension lightens
Brains used to sun
Feel rejected and shunned
Such a controversy
Since the earth was thirsty

Find the peace within the plant
Listen, as raindrops begin their chant
Clouds are but a cover
The earth is their lover
For another day our thirst is quenched
As the gullies become drenched
--Kamala


Monday, August 12, 2013

Drums on the Mountaintop

I hear the drums on the mountaintop
Please don't let them stop
My spirit follows the sound of the drums
My body is starting to hum
My friends are calling from the mountaintop
Please don't let them stop
The fox guides me through the forest trees
Drums beat louder with glee.

I hear the drums on the mountaintop
Please don't let them stop
Beating louder, stronger and clear
I am very near
Songs echo through the canyons deep
Into my soul they seep
I reach the circle gathered round the fire
My voice joins in the choir

The sky is beating the earth with rain
The drums forever reign
The rain pounds the earth below
The rivers are in rapid flow
Thunder and lightning rule the skies
Dry earth no longer cries
We are beating drums on the mountaintop
We're not going to stop.


--Kamala (inspired by Gathering ofCircles 2013)

Monday, August 5, 2013

Desert Thunder

Dry desert palms outstretch
Thirstily catching raindrops as they land
Leaves turned inward to protect
The life within the sand

Lightning shines upon the 'scape
Mesquite shudder as thunder roars
Footprints upon the earth are raped
Wind sweeps and rain pours

Gullies fill and rivers flow
Skies chatter with the earth below
Howling wind does blow
New life is bestowed

--Kamala

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Morning Haiku

I greet the morning
with a yawn to stretch my limbs
Birds chatter with glee
--Kamala

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Rolling Art Projects



Cassie, our little whippet mix, has been riding in a front basket on our tandem for over a year now. She has accumulated over 1,500 miles by now (I'm a nerd and keep track of stuff like that). Oden joined our household back in February and has done a wonderful job of stabilizing our rescued, traumatized little dog. After attending the Southwest Tandem Rally where a couple pulled their 75-pound dog in a child's trailer we got the idea and wanted Oden to join in on our fun cycling adventures.

Child's trailer has soft, cloth  floor
with a 'seat'. 

Perusing internet shopping site, actual 'dog' trailer ranged $200 plus. The better ones were closer to $400. Being trapped in a budget, this was not the course we could take. So we set out and found a used child's bicycle trailer for $50 with the intent of converting it to a usable 'dog' trailer leaning to the design of the better trailers we saw on the internet.

Taking Oden out before the conversion showed us that he really was going to enjoy the excursions. We cut off all the original materials and began with the skeleton. Now, those who don't know me, let me give you some background. I've never sewed anything with a pattern. I really wouldn't know where to begin. But about four years ago, Charley and I purchased a 1972 pop-up camping trailer and completely redid it. By this I mean, we did the same thing. We stripped the trailer down to it's skeleton. While Charley reconfigured the bed, waterproofed the roof, I sewed a completely new canvas for the trailer: screened windows, clear, vinyl roll down, zippered windows, etc. I did not use the original for a pattern because I did not like the configuration. For a look-see follow this  link. I just had an idea and followed it.

So began this creation using re-purposed materials: a huge duffel bag (so large that if you filled it, you couldn't move it) and straps we save. Here are pictures of the results. We took the Oden out yesterday for our first (successful) test ride:

Back screened, zippered entrance
with reflectors
Front screen has clear window
which rolls down. Note wood floor.
Charley added side bars to protect wheels

Back flap, complete with pocket with
reflectors

Inside, both sides, have zippered pockets.
Floor covered in carpeting.


We're ready!
Whee! Wind in my ears!






Thursday, April 18, 2013

Rapping Tapping

Sara gets my mind a rapping
With all her word tapping
Nature all around is humming
Wind is whirling, humming
Lake water is white capping
At the shores it is lapping
A nesting mama eagle
Keeping a dutiful vigil
Watches the world from above
This world I do love.
Thank you Sara!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Desert Breath


Spring winds, out here in the west
Some see as a bit of a pest
But the blowing sand
Lends a helping hand
Providing rough gyration
For tough vegetation
Spreading their seeds
For desert life to feed
Providing life anew
From desert breath that blew
To be fair
It cleans the air
From the desert it erased
All prints slithered and paced
Spring winds, out here in the west
Can sometimes be the best.
--Kamala

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Meditations at midnight . . .


Om Mani Padmi Hum
Listen to the beat of the drum
Breathe in
Extinguish sin
Breathe out
Let out doubt
Dance all around
Release your frown
Om Mani Padmi Hum
Feel the beat of the drum
--Kamala Land

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Haiku touring


Tough bicycle tours
Indures the soul to summit
Unconquerable

My soul sees spirit
Unknown to me unfolded
Cleansed and bare naked

My soul is shaken
To its very core open
For the world to see.
--KL

Monday, March 4, 2013

Heart Haiku

Born in the southwest
My heart dreams rocky mountains
Its breath blows my mind.
--KL

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Circling Haiku Cycles--by Kamala Land


Circles, cycles as
My pedals spin around. Wheels
Roll upon the earth.








Minutes spin into
Hours, days, weeks, months to years.
Spins life unto death.









Youth is immortal.
As age sees finality.
Life circles cycle.











Bubbles small and large;
Circling, cycling, splitting, break.
Circle complete—end.








Babies grow into
Adults into elderly.
Life circles cycle.








Clocks weave time essence.
Plans, dates, deadlines, importance,
End unimportant.






Watched become watchers,
Watchers turn back into watched.
Life circles cycle.







Earth dances with stars,
Moon, planets, frolic in space.
Play circle, cycle.







Circles, cycles as
my pedals spin around. Wheels
roll upon the earth.