The Desert

The desert is so engaging.  I have not spent this much time in the desert and it is taking me a while to appreciate the variety of the landscape.  The drama of the land is intense and it is the perfect place to work through spiritual trials because life in the desert changes dramatically, often within just a few minutes.  I did a four mile hike into a canyon and as we returned a strong wind blew up out of no where.  It did not last long but is that not often how life is.  Things change in a minute and decisions have to be made.  We throw ourselves on the mercy of God, seeking answers that are often hiding in the crevasses of a desert wall.  

The mountains have been beaten down and changed through the harshness of the weather. And so it is with us. Life beats us down and but then the glory of God appears just like the gentle beauty that so often embraces this kind of place.  The silence is not a vacuum; it’s just an absence of all the human chatter and electronic noise that is so invasive these days.  There is much that rattles our souls and robs us of that link with the eternal.  When you are in the desert, you see the drama of God’s handiwork with such vast variety every time you drive just a short distance.  Of course, I am in an exceptionally breathtaking part of New Mexico.  There is a reason that Georgia O’Keeffe settled here.  To be able to look out at Pedernal, the flat topped mountain that is such a common subject of her artistic hands is overwhelming.  Having loved the Pacific Northwest for so many years, I never thought I would take to the desert but spending time here allows for a deeper understanding of the life Jesus lived.  This was his landscape.