Room for Desert: Part I
In mid-June, Thales and I set out for the Indio/Palm Desert area for a women's Bible study I was leading worship at with the ladies of The Garden Fellowship. It was an incredible night of ministry and Selah as we combed through Psalm 37 for encouragement, healing, and endless reasons to praise God in every single circumstance.
Trusting in God is a way of life or it isn't. Looking back now, anytime I have ever freaked out or chose to stay paralyzed due to frustration over a little mishap, it was because of spiritual amnesia. I forget who my God is and how He has called me to dwell in the land/make my permanent stay in His presence to feed on His faithfulness. I'll be honest, there have been times when I have willfully forgotten the One who saved my soul because I am obsessed with my brokenness, and in defiance to His kindness that leads me to repentance I chose to stay the victim. In these spells of self-inflicted dryness, I become a wanderer, a runaway prodigal uselessly delaying my repentance.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
This brings us to the Salton Sea--Bombay Beach, to be exact. What a place. I wanted to visit this place because I was always fascinated by its bleakness and venturing to see it in real life was on my Bucket List. Thales wanted to visit this place for the same reason, but also because it's where Trevor from Grand Theft Auto is from. I learned a lot about Grand Theft Auto that day.
How can I describe this place? Eerie. Definitely eerie. Do note that its salinity is way more than than that of the Pacific Ocean (thanks, Wikipedia). Oh, and it's widely known to be an "ecological disaster" (source: science). So there's that. Much like the Dead Sea, the Salton Sea has no outlet, and because of its surrounding climate it grows saltier over time. Sounds like me when I get complacent in my walk with Christ, tbh.
It smells like the fish bones washed up on the crunchy tiled sediment. The more you walk around, the more tetanus becomes an actual possibility because of the rotting abandoned docks. Visitors unlike us drive-up but don't leave their cars. Overall this place is a cautionary tale and we need to heed.
After being a little creeped out by the howling of the wind drowning out any other sound, we made our way back to the car. I forgot to mention that visiting this area in the middle of June feels a lot like walking on the surface of the sun. Your body isn't even sweating because it's bewildered and confused as to why you would willingly drag it through a furnace. That being said, after this bleak time spent in the Salton Sea, we made our way to Salvation Mountain.
Stay tuned for Room for Desert: Part II.