The second I stepped off the plane in Denpasar, the perfumed air struck me. Everything smelled sweetly and I knew I was in a foreign place. It was such a contrast to the smell of burnt sugar from the Domino Sugar factory here in Baltimore! Almost immediately, I located the source of the scent.
Bali is primarily Hindu and these are offerings made of palm fronds and are filled with flower petals and incense. Women create these newly every morning as an offering to the lower spirits, the evil which they recognize has root in all of us. Diligently, day in, day out, they pour their devotion into these offerings and place them on door stoops, window sills, dashboards in vehicles, and on and on, to protect their loved ones from evil and calamity.
It made me question, what do I direct my energies towards on a daily basis? Are they directed towards something that benefits me or the people I love? Do I create or do I destroy?
Just something to ponder.
