Human Spirit in Oklahoma

Lethal force

As if we needed a reminder of mother nature's awesome power, she decided we needed a jolt anyway by letting loose one of the strongest tornadoes ever recorded through Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City in America. At time of writing, 91 people have died, including many children. To touch on the dramatic, like a Great White shark sent by God Himself, it destroyed everything unfortunate enough to stand in its path.
Humans throughout the ages have been the architects and authors of some wonderful inventions and words of wisdom, however we are truly puny when struck against the infinite might of nature. Mortality has its (frail) limits. Luckily for us, we are strong in spirit and Dai Jakes is certain that with the help of the generous and kind, the good people of Moore, Oklahoma will be shown a helping hand in rebuilding lives and homes. Nothing will bring back those who perished of course, and they will be in everyones thoughts and prayers.
I like to think there is a lesson in every tragedy though and the photograph below sums up both the devastation and the humble reality of what occurred in Oklahoma last night. Written on that sign found among the rubble are the words: the most important things in life are not things. Food for thought indeed.


A sign of hope?

The Other Thomas

Poet R.S. Thomas

On this Good Friday, we also celebrate 100 years since the birth of R.S. Thomas, one of Wales' greatest poets. (He was also an Anglican priest.) It has been said that Thomas found communicating with God hard, indeed many even thought him an athiest but I think this is to miss the point completely. Read his works and you will soon discover that Thomas used his poetry to reveals his 'version' of God. A God that shows Himself in small doses if you will, through nature which was featured heavily in his beautiful work.
Work, that much like my own poetry, was not written with a solid idea or agenda in mind before putting pen to paper, but words and imagery that unfolded as soon as he wrote. What I like to call 'living poetry'. It really is a joy to read.

Night Sky by R.S. Thomas

What they are saying is
that there is life there, too:
that the universe is the size it is
to enable us to catch up.

They have gone on from the human:
that shining is a reflection
of their intelligence. Godhead
is the colonisation by mind

of untenanted space. It is its own
light, a statement beyond language
of conceptual truth. Every night
is a rinsing myself of the darkness

that is in my veins. I let the stars inject me
with fire, silent as it is far,
but certain in its cauterising
of my despair. I am a slow

traveller, but there is more than time
to arrive. Resting in the intervals
of my breathing, I pick up the signals
relayed to me from a periphery I comprehend.

The Back No Longer Broken

Way back in lets say 1985 (its as accurate as I wish or can be), I loved camping. I used to get rollercoaster thrills just thinking about planning a trip in the countryside and would spend days simply getting stuck into survival lists and learning how to trap rabbits and flat fish. Alas these beasts might have been unicorns or dewfish for they were never near to my calloused and often scabby fingers. (By the way 'dewfish' is something I made up and exists not in our Creators godly land).
When my friends and I got to our spot in the forest (we usually opted for the cover of trees over open land) it was pure nature and wildlife; torn bark on trees, dead rabbits, fox droppings and the beautiful scent of wild berries. The closest we got to modern life was a few lighters to get the fire going, not even bothering with camping stoves.


Camping: never forget your pipe

These days however, going camping and sleeping under the stars is a little different. Make that a LOT different. In fact we are hardly sleeping in the great outdoors anymore because we have taken the indoors out. The internet, mobile phones with countless handy applications, television, iPods, laptops, cameras, everything people have for entertainment at home can now be taken on a camping expedition. We even have satelite navigation in the car to find us the perfect spot!
Back in my day all we had for entertainment was what mother nature provided for us; rivers to fish in,giant oaks to climb on, brambles to shred clothes. Our only entertainment was feeding the fire with wood, alcohol, a portable radio and books. That was it really, apart from the 'fun' of finding your way back to the tent after a late night trip to the bushes for a pee. Now I can take every classic novel ever written with me, along with my entire record collection. I have even seen mobile satellite dishes so campers can tune into their favourite television series while skinning their freshly caught rabbit. Or more likely tucking into a freshly cooked lasagna, nuked in the mobile microwave.
Its hardly survival and I personally think that having all these modern devices on a camping trip ruins the fun. When everything is to hand there is no pleasure or excitement in having it. I admit we carried lighters but certainly a camp fire made with the age old method of rubbing sticks together is infinately more satisfying. And speaking of fire, this should be the ONLY source of light. Seeing the glow of tv and computer screens is just plain wrong when you are out in the bush as our Australian friends would say. Have we become so dependent on 24 hour news and social networking websites that we cannot escape their clutches even for a few days camping? Have we become so lazy that fish bought in Morrisons is preferable to ones caught fresh? Of course we have. The things we had originally for convenience have overtaken us, swallowed us whole and robbed a lot of us of adventure.
Mobile phones are a good idea to have if you intend trekking to desolate, often dangerous parts of the world, or if your children decide to camp out on the beach like I used to do. Phones are useful and can be a lifesaver, but do people really need all the rest of it? The kindles, iPods and satelite dishes? Afterall camping is supposed to be getting you away from it all, not bringing it all with you like a bleeping and pinging ball and chain. We have become our own prisoners, trapped almost in a cold digital world where nobody really cares and nobody is really your friend.
When I next go pitch my tent in Newgale or Freshwater East in beautiful Pembrokeshire, im leaving the keyboards and clicks behind and going naked. It feels good to be free from the internet umbilical cord. Try it.