A Reader: “Through Painted Deserts” by Donald Miller

The Healing Power of the Road Trip

Once a year, I embark on an extended road trip. Usually, on my own, I find this time to be healing. For hours, I can find myself lost in thought pondering big questions, mulling over small details, thinking of what to write next, searching for value, and/or singing at the top of my lungs as if the whole world were a stage. In a world this noisy, we are not afforded a lot of these opportunities. The more hectic life becomes, the less time we seem to be able to find for ourselves. For me, nothing remedies this like asphalt, yellow lines, and some far-off destination.

The Grand Canyon

I have been lucky enough to visit the Grand Canyon twice in my life, but never for a considerable amount of time. On my next visit, I plan to spend several days exploring and attempting a rim to rim hike. I want to get lost in the beauty of the canyon and see where such majesty takes my mind. Much like an extended road trip, hiking provides an opportunity to reset my batteries and get lost in endless thought without much care given to time or place. As I write this, I can only imagine the healing that one of geology’s greatest feats can provide.

Why Questions

In this book, we find two friends driving across the country from Texas to Oregon…