Last week, on the first Sunday of Lent I spoke of "desert discernment," finding the desert places of our lives to listen attentively for God's voice. As always, the gospel lesson tells us of Jesus' wilderness experience, probably in the rugged Judean desert, where he must discern between not just right and wrong, but right and righter. So often in life we are attempting to make the "righter" decisions while living at break-neck speed.
In my sermon I gave the example of the time I spent in the desert of New Mexico last November and the value of the couple of days of quiet at the retreat house of the Presbyterian conference centre called Ghost Ranch. After my return I shared photos of Ghost Ranch in this blog and spoke of its stark beauty. The impact of the place was unexpected. While I was there I found out that not only is Christ in the Desert monastery not far away, there is a Sufi Muslim retreat, a Sikh centre and another New Age retreat. There is something about the desert that is deeply spiritual for people of various faiths.
Last evening we rented the film 3:10 to Yuma which is a remake of a 50's Western of the same name. It stars Christian Bale and Russell Crowe and is very entertaining. Even though it is a classic "shoot 'em up" it is also about a good guy and a bad guy making difficult choices.
As we watched, the landscape suddenly became familiar and I was sure that the background views were of the mountain called Padernal and other buttes and mesas around the retreat house. After the film was over I Googled 3:10 and, sure enough, it was filmed in Santa Fe and at Ghost Ranch. A total of seventeen movies have been filmed there, including City Slickers. There is a rustic ranch house on the property which I assumed was a historic building. It is actually part of a movie set.
Small world.
In my sermon I gave the example of the time I spent in the desert of New Mexico last November and the value of the couple of days of quiet at the retreat house of the Presbyterian conference centre called Ghost Ranch. After my return I shared photos of Ghost Ranch in this blog and spoke of its stark beauty. The impact of the place was unexpected. While I was there I found out that not only is Christ in the Desert monastery not far away, there is a Sufi Muslim retreat, a Sikh centre and another New Age retreat. There is something about the desert that is deeply spiritual for people of various faiths.
Last evening we rented the film 3:10 to Yuma which is a remake of a 50's Western of the same name. It stars Christian Bale and Russell Crowe and is very entertaining. Even though it is a classic "shoot 'em up" it is also about a good guy and a bad guy making difficult choices.
As we watched, the landscape suddenly became familiar and I was sure that the background views were of the mountain called Padernal and other buttes and mesas around the retreat house. After the film was over I Googled 3:10 and, sure enough, it was filmed in Santa Fe and at Ghost Ranch. A total of seventeen movies have been filmed there, including City Slickers. There is a rustic ranch house on the property which I assumed was a historic building. It is actually part of a movie set.
Small world.
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