Have you spent time in the desert? It’s a place where God can really surprise you. A few years back, I spent a week on retreat at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. Over the week, I’d become accustomed to the desert’s muted tones: the tans, the browns, the dusty green of the sage. And then I climbed atop a mesa I’d been noticing all week. When I got to the top I saw in the distance what seemed to be a ribbon of green and gold spread out on the desert floor. It was the golden fall cottonwoods and green shrubs that thrive along the banks of the Rio Grande as it flows through that land. Here, life was abundant all because water flows in the desert.

Sometimes modern society can seem like a desert. That ribbon of green and gold reminded me of the life that thrives in local churches, those places where people come to refresh and nurture themselves in faith. It called to mind all the meals served to the hungry, beds provided for the homeless, counseling offered to the troubled, and joy and companionship shared with the elderly. I thought of teens who raised money to supply a medical mission to Colombia, and a local men’s group that coaches those who have lost their jobs, and so much more.

Grace flows like water in the desert, and where there is grace, life abounds. Why not come to the water?