It’s hard to tell where we’re going.

We’ve gone beyond the landmarks we’re used to, we’ve gone beyond the single track paths that promised to take us higher and farther.

This is spiritual and this is physical. When the world changed it was inevitable, it had to happen, and it was a logical and natural progression from where we were to where we are now. It was only a matter of time and it hasn’t actually all been negative.

But when the Evangelical Church changed it was reactive, it was punitive, it was black and white fundamentalism, it got uglier and meaner, it let go of patience and kindness, it decided that grace was too risky. It was only a matter of time and its been almost entirely negative.

A few years ago, my family moved to the physical desert. A place derided even by those living a half hour away. We are sand here: we play in it, we sell it, we clog our roadways with its trucks, we eat it I’m sure, and we wipe it out of our eyes at the end of the day. It feels like a funeral; if you stop moving it’ll succeed in its long-term mission of burying you.

But just beyond here, toward the west and the south, are amazing places of world-class fascination. Giants of geology rising from the desert with scenes that look more like Mars than North America. Many locals have never even spent the couple hours in the car to see them, so maybe they are on Mars.

If beyond this physical desert are graces we’ve never seen, faith and hope tell me that have to be spiritual graces out beyond this new desert that will help us heal. I’d like to keep moving if its alright with you.