Book # 3

Okay, so I'm already going to tell you about Through Painted Deserts. This is one of the two books on the list that I don't actually own. Strange, I know, for a book lover. But I'm also big on libraries and borrowing from friends and family. Instead, I carry a copy of two pages around in my journal because I think Donald Miller has some incredibly powerful observations on life, particularly American culture.

This is probably Donald Miller's least known books, and was previously titled Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance. It's a thoughtful book, reflecting on his journey from Houston to Portland. He leaves behind all that he's known in Houston, and goes on a cross-country trip to Portland, through some of the most beautiful parts of America. He travels with a guy named Paul, who leads a pretty simple life. In the midst of the trip, Miller reflects on the evangelical church in America, and religion in general, offering up some poignant critiques.

I borrowed this book from a dear friend who was my roommate at the time. I had graduated from Stanford 6 months prior, and was still trying to figure out life after college. I absolutely resonated with what he was saying about the church. And having lived in Silicon Valley for over 4 years, I was desperate to find more meaning in life than working my way up the corporate ladder and working to own a fancy car and a nice house.

Here are bits and pieces of the passage that I carry around:
" And it hit me that, amid the screaming noise, amid the messages that said buy this product and I will be made complete, I could hardly know what life was meant to be...Nobody stops to question whether they actually need the house, the car, the better job. And because of this, there doesn't seem to be any peace...We can only panic about the clothes we wear, panic about the car we drive, sit stuck in traffic and panic about whether or not the guy who cut us off respects us...We drive around in a trance, salivating for Starbucks while the great heaven sits above us, and the beautiful sunrise is happening in the desert, and all those mountains out West are collecting snow on the limbs of their pines, and all those leaves are turning colors our East. God, it is so beautiful, it is so quiet, so perfect..." (pg. 76)

Go read it. And then tell me what you think.