Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road

I first read "Blue Like Jazz", before "Through Painted Deserts", so I got Don's history a little out of sync. Normally I'm not a huge nonfiction fan, but I love the flowing style that Don Miller writes in. Plus he likes the same kind of experiences that I do. I have definitely become a fan. The big criticism of Don by Christian theologians is that he is either "off" on this theology or too postmodern in his theology. I think it's telling that God didn't write a theology textbook, but a series of nonfiction stories that tell a Story--the story of redemption. I see that Don understands this, and wants to tell his part in the epic. And he's gifted at doing just that. Many more of us would benefit if we had Don's authentic relationship with God.

I read Through Painted Deserts while traveling to Australia for a study abroad trip. Miller retold the places he had visited with his friend in the West of America, a few of those places I have been. It made me reflect on those expereinces and realize how blessed I am. More importantly, it made me realize that I needed to take the next 4 months I had in a different culture to the outmost extreme. I couldn't judge people (as Miller explains in examples). The key note, however, was that we need to stop for a second and realize the beauty of the simple things in life. When we do that we see a side of God. And that was wonderful advice for me entering a new country, but something I can take home too. The book helped me and entertained me. It will do the same to you!

Retitled and re-released after Donald Miller's more recent and more successful books, this is a chronicle of a road trip taken by a young, searching person (the author) and his friend. They patch together a Volkswagon bus and hit the road, without a timeframe or a destination in mind. Their adventures are recounted here, and even though as far as adventures go they're pretty tame, the journey itself is the real point. The book's message is powerful and struck me on a personal level: Just leave. Most of us don't see how small our lives are, how much we cling to the known, and how much we miss when we limit our horizons to the safe, to what common wisdom tells us is secure. It awakens something in me, the opening preamble of a wistful thought that has not yet found completion. Perhaps it's related to my turning 30 earlier in the year, but here it is, my favorite part and the introductory paragraph that told me I had to take the book home and begin reading it that night. "Leave. ... Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed."

I've got to tell you, I really liked this book. Echoing Kerouac and Pirsig, Through Painted Deserts is the quintessential, archetypal, all-American road story. An easy and flowing read, Miller kept me turning pages as his adventure (shared with friend, Paul) moved from Texas to Oregon. Originally released as Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance, and published by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson, Through Painted Deserts is anything but a religious road trip book. Fundangelicals will not care much for the deeper questions and the deeper spiritualities that are expressed through these lines. And besides that, there is talk of beer drinking, cigarette smoking (and a subtle allusion to smoking something else as well), and some culturally unacceptable language (that would not be unknown to any good student of the old King James Version of the Bible). And there are a couple of hillarious passages which include the term "johnson" (one which also features an electric fence). This is the great American road story. It's about finding yourself in the simplicity of nature, about being on a pilgrimage, about seeing things poetically, about being happier without all the "comforts" we can afford. It's about finding God in whiskered old mechanics and in shared conversations and in a box of wine on a front porch and in the stars and in the breeze that moves around an old Volkswagen van in the middle of the night. Miller, the author of Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What, is a wordsmith worthy of our time and our open hearts. Dr. Mike Kear

Two single twentysomething guys hit the road in their dilapidated Volkswagen van in search of adventure and the meaning of life. While this could be the premise for the latest teen gross-out flick to hit your local megaplex, it is, instead, a thoughtful postcard from America's West, signed by Donald Miller. Miller landed firmly on the Christian publishing radar with his popular book BLUE LIKE JAZZ: Nonreligious Thoughts about Christian Spirituality. This edgy memoir about faith and subsequent releases offering a similar orthodox-yet-not take on questions about the Christian life solidified his position as what Marcia Ford called "Captain Trendy Spiritual Writer" in her review of BLUE LIKE JAZZ for Faithful Reader. But BLUE wasn't Miller's first foray into book publishing. An earlier book, PRAYER AND ART OF VOLKSWAGEN MAINTENANCE, went relatively unnoticed; it's been revamped and republished as THROUGH PAINTED DESERTS to capitalized on Captain Trendy's popularity. That might not sound like a formula for compelling reading, but this is a case when marketing strategy benefits the general public. This is a book that deserves a second look. In the interest of full disclosure, my idea of a perfect vacation is a road trip. If I can roll down the windows and turn up the music, I'm as happy as a clam (assuming of course, clams are happy creatures). Like the author, I hail from Texas and I recognized much of the terrain and even some of the people he describes in early chapters as the duo heads from Houston towards Oregon by way of the Grand Canyon. While I prefer traveling in vehicles that don't frequently require surgery on the side of road, I'm a sucker for the "two guys finding themselves and God on the open road" set-up. Having said that, Miller delivers on the potential the premise holds. He manages to take beautiful snapshots of the landscape he's traveling through and the people he meets along the way without succumbing to sentimentalism. And while this journey is largely about knowing God better, THROUGH PAINTED DESERTS doesn't knock you over the head with a new bit of spiritual insight every few pages. Instead, overt spiritual musings are replaced with seemingly mundane details and observations that end up serving much the same function. The humor in THROUGH PAINTED DESERTS is as dry as the high desert air Miller and Paul breathe on their way north. Their ongoing banter covers everything from how to survive a snake bite to what each is looking for in a girlfriend to musings about God; much of it is just begging for a Mark Mothersbaugh score to fade in. I laughed a lot. By the time the duo makes it to Oregon, their friendship has matured and both guys have learned a lot about themselves and, perhaps, God. Basking in the beauty of the Northwest Miller writes, "It is a wonder that those exposed to such beauty forfeit the great questions in the face of such miraculous evidence. I think again about this small period of grace, and thank God for i