As I write this, I've just come through Needles, Calif. And if you know Needles, I need not say anymore.
Needles is where, each summer, the "needles" on the thermometers point to "broil." It's a little like living on the far side of the sun.
And whenever I come through Needles, or any other harsh and hot area, I remember a couple of lines from a Robert Frost poem. Frost says, "They cannot scare me with their empty spaces," because — he says — he can "scare myself with my own desert places."
For Frost, the parched, dry places outside were just a metaphor for the parched, dry places inside of him. They were places to be avoided. They were frightening.
Which makes me wonder why so many spiritual giants sought those "desert places" out.
In Spanish, the word for "wilderness" and "desert" are the same — "desierto."
Jesus sought the "desert" and spent 40 days there.
Moses and the children of Israel fled into the desert and spent 40 years there.
And Brigham Young led the early Latter-day Saints into the desert to live for good.
I think that's because — as with so many things spiritual — what the world despises the spirit craves. The world hates solitude, quiet, tranquility and feeling vulnerable. But those are the very things that enhance a spiritual life.
And the desert has those things in spades.
The desert is life-giving and filled with rejuvenation.
If you're wondering if there's going to be a point to all this, well, there is.
Like Moses and Brigham Young, I think the LDS Church has been pushed into the desert over the past few months. The polygamy bugaboo still haunts the church, the Mountain Meadows controversy had to be dealt with and — after the passage of Proposition 8 — the LDS Church has come in for a lot of ridicule and disdain.
The world is trying to isolate the church and drive the Saints into the desert once again.
But that's not always a bad thing.
As the old band America sang in a clumsy lyric — "In the desert, you can remember your name, cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain."
For the world, the desert can be treacherous and frightful. But for the spiritually minded, it can be life-giving. It's where you go to fill the tanks and look for living water.
It's a chance to drown out the noise and listen to the subtle workings of the heart, a chance to find the peace and vulnerability that sometimes get washed away by the world.
If the church has been pushed into the desert, maybe it's because the members need the desert.
The key is to take advantage of the situation — spiritually.
It's time to look for the Polar Star once again.
It's time to go inside and adjust the compass.
It's time to remember our name.
Jerry Johnston is a Deseret News staff writer. "New Harmony" appears weekly in the Mormon Times section.
Email: jerjohn@desnews.com